After more than two decades of pressure from PETA entities around the world, including e-mails from more than 300,000 supporters and eye-catching protests outside and inside its stores, fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana has confirmed that it will stop using fur and angora in all future collections. PETA U.S. is celebrating Dolce & Gabbana's business-minded decision to stop using fur and angora, which is perfectly in line with the times.
Why Did Dolce & Gabbana Make the Decision? Whether the fur comes from an animal raised on a fur farm or one captured in the wild, using it to make clothing causes immense suffering to a living, feeling being. Most of the animals used by the fur industry spend their entire lives in cramped cages, where they pace frantically, gnaw through bars and mutilate themselves. Companies that sell fur are complicit in this cruelty. Refusing to sell fur is the only way to help eliminate the suffering of animals exploited in the fur trade, which is why hundreds of major designers and retailers, including Armani, Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Macy's, Prada and Versace, have already stopped selling fur.
PETA's Director of International Programs, Mimi Bekhechi, discusses the need for and feasibility of Dolce & Gabbana to stop using fur. "With so many designers and brands-including Giorgio Armani, Gucci, and Michael Kors-adopting animal-abuse-free materials, it is unacceptable that Dolce & Gabbana continues to cling to animal fur." Bekhechi went on to add - "This latest exposé shows, once again, that fur coats, accessories and fur cuffs sentence animals to a miserable life inside tiny, filthy wire cages on fur farms." Dolce & Gabbana Will Use a Sustainable Faux Fur Alternative More importantly, the brand also said that "in order to preserve the work and professionalism of master furriers, guardians of specific knowledge and skills with indispensable added value, Dolce & Gabbana will continue to collaborate with these artisans in the creation of "eco fur" garments and accessories, a sustainable faux fur alternative that uses recycled and recyclable materials." The Italian luxury brand added that the new policy is supported by the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society International, in accordance with Fur Free Alliance guidelines.