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Amsterdam Fashion Week has ditched fur in a move vegan campaigners have described as ‘compassionate’.
The announcement follows talks with animal rights charity PETA, with Danie Bles, CEO of Amsterdam Fashion Week, saying: “AFW is proud that in collaboration with PETA we will from now on be a fur-free platform.”
‘Compassionate fashion’
“Today, as polls show, most Dutch people would never wear fur, and Amsterdam Fashion Week’s compassionate move represents the growing public desire for animal-friendly fashion,” PETA Founder, Ingrid Newkirk, said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.
“Amsterdam Fashion Week has done the right, relevant thing in cutting fur from the event, and PETA looks forward to seeing beautiful animal- and eco-friendly vegan clothing on the catwalks.”
The charity adds: “Animals on fur farms spend their lives in filthy, cramped wire cages before they’re electrocuted, bludgeoned to death or even skinned alive. Investigations have repeatedly shown that cruelty is inherent in the fur trade, including in countries where the industry claims the animals are treated ‘humanely’.”
Ditching fur
The move by AFW follows the Netherlands – which used to be the world’s fourth-biggest fur producer – passing a historic ban on mink farming that will take effect in 2024 and the city of Amsterdam announced it is working towards being fur-free.
In addition, multiple top designers have ditched fur in recent times, including Chanel, Armani, Versace, Gucci, and Burberry among others.
