Giorgio Armani has announced that all Armani collections will be completely fur-free from now on.
“I am pleased to announce that the Armani Group has made a firm commitment to abolish the use of animal fur in its collections,” Mr. Armani says, explaining that, “technological progress made over the years allows us to have valid alternatives at our disposition that render the use of cruel practices unnecessary as regards animals. Pursuing the positive process undertaken long ago, my company is now taking a major step ahead, reflecting our attention to the critical issues of protecting and caring for the environment and animals.”
This commitment from Armani follows a similar one made by Hugo Boss last year, and was borne of working closely with Humane Society International and The Fur Free Alliance — “a coalition of 40 animal protection organizations in 28 countries working to end the fur trade” — according to a release from the Humane Society International.
Claire Bass, the UK-based executive director of Humane Society International says, “Armani is the first word in luxury fashion, and so it is hugely significant for the global fashion industry that Armani has pledged to remove animal fur from all his new collections going forward,” commenting that designers who continue to use fur in their catwalk collections, “are looking increasingly isolated” and concluding that the decision made by Armani is “probably the most powerful message yet that killing animals for their fur is never fashionable.”
The announcement from Mr Armani follows the recent news from PETA that 86% of designers on the London Fashion Week schedule decided not to use any fur in their fall/winter 16 collections, despite a major PR push from the fur industry. As London-based faux fur supremo Hannah Weiland of Shrimps told i-D at the time, “…given how incredible modern technology is, you can now essentially produce faux fur with the same level of softness, quality and warmth [as real fur] — which makes the argument for real fur much harder.”
Credits
Text Charlotte Gush
Photography Jason Lloyd-Evans