Yesterday Jane Birkin requested that her name be removed from the iconic Hermès Birkin bag, named after her in the 80s, after animal rights activists PETA presented her with evidence of the cruel treatment of crocodiles whose skin is used in the making of them. Today, it emerged that PETA bought a single share in the company, not as an investment, but as a way into the company’s AGM. According to the Telegraph, this is so that they can “work from the inside to demand a permanent ban on accessories made from exotic animal skins, including crocodile-skin bags and alligator-skin watches.” Access to the French fashion house’s AGM gives PETA activists “the possibility to attend and ask questions.”
PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk told Vogue, “PETA, on behalf of all kind souls in the world, thanks Ms Birkin for ending her association with Hermès, which makes grotesque handbags that were revealed in a PETA exposé to be constructed from the skins of factory-farmed and cruelly slaughtered crocodiles. We call on Hermès to stop plundering wildlife, factory-farming crocodiles and alligators and slaughtering them for their skins. Once, Birkin bags marked people as celebrities or at least members of the super-rich, but soon, no one will want to be caught dead carrying one, and animal advocates will then breathe a sigh of relief.”
However, Hermès denies that it has any involvement in the farm implicated by PETA, saying in a statement, “Hermès respects and shares [Birkin’s] emotions and was also shocked by the images recently broadcast. An investigation is underway at the Texas farm which was implicated in the video. Any breach of rules will be rectified and sanctioned. Hermès specifies that this farm does not belong to them and that the crocodile skins supplied are not used for the fabrication of Birkin bags.”
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