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Luxury fashion house Valentino has said that it will stop using Angora rabbit fur after. Multiple exposés have uncovered animal cruelty on Angora farms.
Animal rights organization PETA questioned Valentino about its use of Angora wool, a fluffy fabric made of Angora rabbit hair.
The fashion house confirmed that it will not use Angora again, beginning with its upcoming 2022 autumn/winter collection.
Founded in 1960, Valentino has used Angora to make sweaters, tops, and capes. The brand’s logo-buckled wool and Angora-blend cape retails at around €2,500.
PETA applauded Valentino for the decision. PETA said: “The future of fashion lies in materials that no animal had to suffer or die for.”
In May, Valentino committed to ditching fur from all of its future collections.
Valentino CEO Jacopo Venturini said in a news release: “The fur-free stance is perfectly in line with the values of our company.
“We are moving full-steam ahead in the research for alternative materials in view of a greater attention to the environment for the upcoming collections.”
Angora wool
The industry has come under fire for its treatment of Angora rabbits, which are one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit.
Angora farmers pluck hairs from the rabbits rather than shave them, because longer fibers sell for more money.
In 2016, French animal rights group One Voice released undercover footage taken in six different farms over a six-month period. The Independent wrote about the ‘shocking’ footage, which showed the rabbits ‘apparently squealing in pain’.
PETA Asia conducted a similar investigation in 2013. It found that the ‘sickening abuse’ of Angora rabbits was ‘standard practice’ on Chinese Angora farms. The rabbits in the videos were living in ‘tiny, filthy cages, surrounded by their own waste’.
Burberry, Gucci, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger have now all banned Angora products.
