ADVERTISEMENT
Gucci’s CEO Marco Bizzarri has announced that the designer brand will go completely fur-free. Gucci’s switch to fur-free fashion will begin with its Spring/Summer 2018 collections.
Photo: Gucci
According to a statement from the Italian design house: “Gucci will no longer use, promote or publicize animal fur beginning with its Spring/Summer 2018 collection. As a commitment and thanks to a long term partnership with LAV [an Italian animal rights organization] and The Humane Society, Gucci joins the Fur Free Alliance, which focuses on the deprivation and cruelty suffered by fur bearing animals both in wild trapping and industrial fur farming.”
As for the fur items still available for sale on Gucci’s website, the brand says it “will be organizing a charity auction of remaining animal fur items with proceeds to benefit LAV and the Humane Society.”
Fur is outdated
Speaking with Business of Fashion about their decision to ditch the fur, Bizzari said: ‘Do you think using furs today is still modern? I don’t think it’s still modern and that’s the reason why we decided not to do that. It’s a little bit out-dated.’
Bizzarri says fur products are worth about €10 million ($11.8 million) annually and will be replaced with products made of faux-fur, wool and new fabric innovations.
Millenials are driving the change
Whilst Gucci’s fur lined loafers are one of their most popular products, Bizzarri is not worried about the change as he feels the decision will pay dividends with younger generations (who account for more than half of Gucci’s shoppers), whom consulting firm Deloitte describes as more ethically minded than previous generations.
Photo: Getty Images
Fur Free Alliance
The fashion giant has also signed up to the Fur Free Alliance, an organisation that promises to end exploitation and killing of animals for fur, as part of a wider sustainability plan. It has been speculated that this move away from fur is due to a push for sustainability by Gucci’s parent company, Kering.
Kering owns a number of luxury brands including Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen. Last year, Kering conducted research into the sustainability of certain materials and found that animal products were far less sustainable than synthetics.
Fur free fashion
PJ Smith, senior manager of fashion policy for The Humane Society, said on Wednesday, “Gucci’s decision is a game-changing moment in the fashion industry. We’ll look back at this moment, I predict, and see that this was the turning point when the business world turned away from fur and substituted cruelty-free garments in its place.”
Gucci joins the likes of Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Armani, which are all fur-free. The luxury e-tailer Yoox Net-A-Porter also announced earlier this year that it would no longer stock fur items, joining UK department store Selfridges, which banned fur in 2005.
