I remember when fall fashion used to be practically synonymous with fur on the runways and in the stores of many of the top luxury brands. Not so, anymore. We’ve seen a paradigm shift over the past several years, with major company after major company announcing fur-free policies, Elle Magazine no longer publishing photos or stories that show fur, not to mention fur sales bans passing in city after city in the U.S. and fur farms being shuttered in countries across the globe. And after COVID-19 swept through hundreds of mink fur farms (including 18 in the U.S.), the absurdity of continuing to support the fur trade became even further underscored.
As New York Fashion Week kicks off, I’m excited to announce that this year our signature To The Rescue! Gala, taking place in New York City on Nov. 11, will take an inside look at our fight to end the cruel fur industry, as we congratulate the designers, companies and innovators who have cleared fur from their racks and chosen faux.
Indeed, there’s a lot to celebrate when it comes to this theme: A majority of brands, retailers and designers have gone fur-free in recent years. We’ve recently seen Italian luxury brands Moncler and Dolce&Gabbana announce fur-free policies, joining so many others that have opted for modern, cruelty-free materials that do not involve the inherent cruelty and environmental degradation that goes hand in hand with caging and killing millions of animals such as foxes, raccoon dogs and mink.
We’ve already been seeing a lot less animal fur on the runways this year, and I look forward to seeing more and more fur-free styles and innovations during this fashion week, especially as we gear up for our gala. To help celebrate this progress, we’re honored to have Neiman Marcus Group, whose fur-free policy takes effect in 2023, be this year’s top sponsor. We worked with the luxury retailer to announce its fur-free policy last year and have worked with them closely ever since.
Not only will our gala take a deeper look at why the fashion industry is distancing itself from animal fur, but we’re also going to explore the material innovation that is replacing fur and other materials in stores and on runways. To that end, the event will also be sponsored by Mylo, the company behind bio-based leather made from mycelium, the root-like structure of mushrooms.
The fashion industry has come so far by first taking an important step away from using fur—and the future looks extremely promising, with exciting innovations leading to an even more humane world of fashion.
We’re looking forward to our gala so that we can further shine a spotlight on a fur-free future and celebrate today’s work to end animal cruelty around the world. We are also delighted to be honoring Mars, a top global partner in our work to protect all animals.
This article by Kitty Block was first published by A Humane World on 9 September 2022. Lead Image: As more and more companies move away from using animal fur, millions of animals (including foxes, raccoon dogs and mink) won’t have to suffer terrible and short lives in tiny cages on fur farms. iStock.com/Alexey Seafarer.
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