London Fashion Week Set to Be Fur-Free as Campaigners Target Holdout Brands

By Adam Clark

London Fashion Week is set to be fur-free for the first time ever as designer fashion brands increasingly bow to pressure from campaigners to cease using animal products.

The British Fashion Council, which hosts the biannual trade show, said Friday that a survey conducted with all the designers on the official catwalk schedule suggested no animal fur will be used in September's edition, which begins next week.

That would make the London event the first of the four major global fashion weeks --the others being New York, Milan and Paris-- to shun fur entirely.

The announcement comes just a day after British fashion label Burberry Group PLC (BRBY.LN) committed to stop using fur in its collections.

"Modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible," said Burberry Chief Executive Marco Gobbetti in Thursday's statement, in which the company also said it would immediately stop burning unsold goods.

Burberry follows Gucci, owned by France's Kering (KER.FR), and Versace as the latest label to commit to stop using fur this year. Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL), Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS), Hugo Boss AG (BOSS.XE) and privately owned Armani are among the other major fashion houses that have already vowed to go furless.

Campaigners are now piling pressure on the remaining holdouts. The Humane Society International on Thursday launched a global campaign calling on Italian fashion label Prada S.p.A. (1913.HK) to adopt a fur-free policy. In April, Prada said it would no longer prominently highlight exotic-skin and fur products after PETA protests were held at its annual shareholder meeting.

Prada didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Dow Jones Newswires.

The British Fashion Council said its survey found a "cultural change" among designer businesses on the back of consumer sentiment, with customers becoming increasingly ethically conscious. It also highlighted the stance of multi-brand stores who have moved away from selling fur.

However, a U.K. parliamentary committee called for a public consultation to ban the sale of all fur outright in July, after finding retailers were "complacent" over cases where supposedly faux fur turned out to be real. The U.K. already bans fur-farming, but allows imports that are accurately labeled.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com; @AdamDowJones

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 07, 2018 10:36 ET (14:36 GMT)

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