London Fashion Week is first major fashion week to ban exotic animal skins

[Garth Gator]

London Fashion Week is shedding the exotic skin, and it’s not for a seasonal trend. The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced that, starting in 2025, exotic animal skins will no longer be allowed on its runways. With this move, London Fashion Week has become the first of the “big four” fashion weeks—which also includes New York, Milan, and Paris—to introduce such a ban, marking a significant shift towards cruelty-free fashion.

 

The BFC’s decision is part of its broader Positive Fashion Initiative, which aims to promote sustainability and ethical practices within the industry. Designers applying to participate in London Fashion Week will now be required to avoid using materials sourced from exotic animals, such as snake, crocodile, and lizard skins, in their collections. This new rule aligns with a previous step taken in 2018, when LFW became the first major fashion event to ban real fur. 

 

The announcement was well-received by animal rights advocates, particularly PETA, which has long campaigned against the use of animal products in fashion. Yvonne Taylor, PETA UK’s Vice President of Corporate Projects, praised the decision, emphasizing that animals like crocodiles, lizards, and snakes should not suffer for the sake of fashion.

 

This ban follows a growing trend across the fashion world. Earlier this year, Copenhagen Fashion Week also prohibited exotic skins, while luxury fashion brands like Chanel and Victoria Beckham had already made the decision to exclude these materials from their lines. 

 

Whether the rest of the major fashion weeks will adopt similar bans remains to be seen, but London has certainly set the tone.

 

 

• https://www.drapersonline.com/news/london-fashion-week-bans-wild-animal-skins 
• https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/shoppingandfashion/928629/london-leads-fashion-capitals-in-banning-exotic-animal-skins/story/ 
• https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/bfc-extends-animal-product-ban-to-exotic-skins/2024112978831 
• https://www.voguebusiness.com/story/fashion/london-fashion-week-bans-exotic-skins 
• https://nypost.com/2024/11/29/lifestyle/london-fashion-week-bans-exotic-animal-skins-future-of-fashion-is-animal-free/ 

 

 

Image: Svetlanais | Dreamstime.com