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Wella has officially canceled its sponsorship of Milan Fashion Week (MFW) over the event’s continued use of animal fur.
Wella’s decision came after activists from Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT) protested outside the homes of company executives in Los Angeles, California.
Read more: How To Tell The Difference Between Faux Fur And The Real Thing, According To PETA
Wella, a Swiss multinational hair care company, has partnered with Milan Fashion Week, one of the “big four” fashion weeks, since at least 2020.
In an email dated January 24, 2026, Mallory Martino, Wella’s chief people officer, told CAFT that the company “has decided we are no longer going to sponsor MFW.”
In addition to protesting outside executives’ homes in LA, CAFT activists also demonstrated at Wella’s studios in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Munich in Germany, Warsaw in Poland, Paris in France, Toronto in Canada, and Fukuoka in Japan.
Despite mounting public pressure, Milan Fashion Week still allows the use of fur at its events, which prompted activists to target the event’s partners. The ongoing demonstrations are part of what CAFT calls an “escalating global anti-fur campaign.”
“Activists will now shift their focus to Milan Fashion Week’s other official partner, DHL, the global shipping company,” said Suzie Stork, the executive director of CAFT. “We urge DHL to either urge Milan Fashion Week to abandon fur or be prepared to face protests worldwide.”
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‘The direction of the global fashion industry is unmistakable’
Wella’s decision to cut ties with Milan Fashion Week comes shortly after New York Fashion Week announced it would no longer have fur on its runways. In January, Rick Owens became the latest fashion brand to ban fur, also in response to protests.
In October last year, the publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ announced that it would no longer promote fur in its magazines or advertising, and the publisher of Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan announced a similar ban in December.
“The direction of the global fashion industry is unmistakable, and it is moving away from fur,” said Stork. “Milan Fashion Week’s refusal to follow suit places it firmly on the wrong side of history.”
