Fashion
London Fashion Week bans wild animal skins
David Leigh-Pemberton, BFC‘s deputy director of policy and engagement, announced the ban this week in a speech to parliament. It extends the council’s existing ban of animal fur on its runways, which was introduced last December.
From early 2025, London Fashion Week will not showcase any brands featuring real fur or exotic skins in their collections and ask designers to agree to these conditions as part of their application to appear at the show.
It makes London Fashion Week the first of the “big four” to prohibit both fur and wild animal skins ahead of its counterparts in Paris, Milan and New York. Smaller fashion weeks, including Copenhagen, Berlin and Melbourne have already implemented the ban.
Leigh-Pemberton said: “The standards we apply to designers showing on the official schedule continue to evolve, and we are now actively engaging with designers and the wider fashion community to discuss our approach to feathers on the catwalk. This work happens in the broader context of the fashion sector’s response to environmental and social concerns.”
Dr Charlotte Regan, campaign manager of World Animal Protection UK’s Wildlife, said: “The British Fashion Council’s announcement that London Fashion Week is now officially free from wild animal skins sends an important message throughout the global fashion industry that exploiting animals for their skins is both unethical and unnecessary.”