Gucci has announced that they will no longer produce animal fur products.  The popular fashion name has joined the Fur Free Alliance, which will take effect in the spring and summer series of 2018.

 

Marco Bizzarri, CEO of Italian luxury brand Gucci, announced in London on October 13, 2017 that it would no longer make and use animal fur since the spring and summer 2018 series. Gucci stated that they will join the Fur Free Alliance (FFA), and stressed that they will the rest of the fur accessories and clothing by charity auction. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to the animal rights groups HSI (Humane Society International) and the LAV (a member of the Eurogroup for Animals, the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments, the Fur Free Alliance and ENDCAPtivity).

 

This decision was first put forward by the Gucci's Creative Director Alessandro Michele. Bizzari also stressed that the best creative directors should be able to anticipate, sooner than others, that fashion and modernization are both going hand in hand and influencing each other. "I don't think fur is a thing of the fashion, and I think it's a bit out of date." he said. "Creativity can be used in many different facets without the need for fur." For previously introduced fur products, Gucci stated to use artificial fur, wool, or in the future will be the new modified wool to replace. Although the behavior will affect the sales of related products, Gucci believes disabling the fur can appeal to the company’s younger consumer base.

 

Before this decision, Gucci had been using real animal hair in its fur products. Animal fur has a high gloss, good insulation and ventilation and is softer to the touch. At the same time, fur, like other scarce materials, has become a status symbol. At the end of primitive society, the skins were mainly worn to show the authority of religion. Nowadays, fur has always been the favorite luxury products of global consumers.

 

However, each fur coat requires about 10 to 25 foxes or 7 to 80 mink furs. According to data of PETA, a coat needs to consume 200 small animals; a bear's full fur can only be used to make a hat. After the female bear is killed, 70 percent of the bears survive less than a year. There are also millions of animals, including sea otters, raccoons, crocodiles, and llamas, which have died in the fur industry.

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Gucci is not the only brand to speak against using fur. Famous Chinese fashion designer Jason Lin said that if the fashion come at the expense of animal blood, it has deviated from the original intention of the human pursuit and animals living in harmony, so fur should be banned.

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In fact, fashion companies are choosing alternative materials in the face of external pressure and changing consumer preferences with increasing frequency. Before Gucci, several boutique firms had abandoned fur. On June 2016, Armani announced that it would ban animal fur altogether. Calvin Klein announced in 1994 that it was no longer using fur.

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This year, Gucci has announced that it will not use, generalize or promote animal fur since the spring and summer series. As the long-term cooperative partnership with LAV and The Humane Society, Gucci officially joined FFA. They take care of those deprived of furs of the wild or farmed animals, and they therefore suffered cruel behavior. The goal is to create the necessary conditions for sustainable development in a gradual manner.