Mulberry bans the use of exotic animal skins in future collections

Mulberry has just become the latest luxury fashion brand to ban the use of exotic animal skins in its designs as it confirms it has ditched them from all of its future collections.

The luxury label has already banned fur from its collections as part of its fur-free policy but will no longer be using the skins of alligators, crocodiles, ostriches, lizards, or snakes in its collections starting with its spring-summer 2020 collection.

In a statement, Mulberry group sustainability manager Rosie Wollacott said: “We have spent a lot of time determining and then continually reviewing our sustainability metrics and targets. At an early stage of this process, we decided not to use exotics in our collections, and this remains our position.”

The decision comes following years of pressure from animal welfare organisation PETA who are calling on designers and fashion houses to ditch materials made from animals from their collections in favour of more modern animal-free materials.

Director of corporate projects at PETA, Yvonne Taylor, said: “Behind every handbag or wallet made with exotic skins is an animal who suffered tremendously. Mulberry’s decision to ban these cruelly obtained materials is a sign of the times, and Peta calls on other luxury labels to follow its lead.”

Cruelty-free fashion is in vogue right now, so much so in fact that designers are announcing their intentions to ban the use of fur and exotic animal skins from their collections with increasing frequency.

Fur has been rapidly falling out of fashion with designers in recent years with big brands such as Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, Gucci, Michael Kors, Versace, Burberry, Donna Karan, Coach, Chanel, Jean Paul Gautier and Jimmy Choo all turning their backs on fur.

In 2019, major British retailer Selfridges announced that it would stop selling products made from exotic animal skins such as python, alligator, lizard and crocodile skin from 2020.

Image credit: Mulberry