Gucci Is Going Fur-Free And Donating Money From Remaining Fur Sales To Animals

Credit: Gucci

Following Armani’s big transition into a fur-free designer company last year, fashion powerhouse Gucci has also announced that their brand will be going fur-free starting in 2018. After seeing the writing on the wall and where consumers and the fashion industry were headed, it was inevitable that Gucci would go this direction, and now consumers are hoping even more companies will follow suit.

Gucci revealed their Spring-Summer 2018 line in Milan this past September and it is reportedly the first line they have done that is without fur. They’re working with the Humane Society International to make the transition as well as LAV, an Italian nonprofit that works on protecting animal rights in the legal sense.

“Gucci going fur-free is a huge game-changer. For this Italian powerhouse to end the use of fur because of the cruelty involved will have a huge ripple effect throughout the world of fashion,” Humane Society International president Kitty Block said in a statement. “We commend Gucci’s compassionate decision, and for helping to ensure that the future of fashion is fur-free.”

Up until now, the company has been using mink, coyote, raccoon dog, fox, and the fur of other animals to supply the coat for their animal products. While the feel of these coats is extremely soft, faux products have been engineered to feel just as luxurious and no animals have to be cruelly bred and killed in the process.

Credit: Gucci

As part of the change, Gucci will also hold an auction to sell the remaining fur items. The proceeds from this auction will go directly to HSI and LAV, and the brand as a whole is working towards making more positive changes for the environment and for animals. Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri credits much of the change to creative director Alessandro Michele, whom he appointed in 2015. With the times changing, Bizzarri has said that he has been leaning towards better practices within the company.

“In selecting a new creative director I wanted to find someone who shared a belief in the importance of the same values,” Bizzarri said. “I sensed that immediately on meeting Alessandro for the first time.”

Gucci will also be joining the Fur Free Alliance, which is a group composed of more than 40 organizations that campaign in favor of ending the fur industry altogether promoting animal welfare. While many point to the company wanting to increase their value once again as their main motivator for going fur-free, animal welfare organizations are just happy to see a major consumer of the fur industry turn its back on the cruel practice.

“Real fur is extraordinarily old-fashioned,” Stella McCartney said in 2015. “Even if you’re 20 and you’ve got a real fur coat, you just look like an old, unaware, unconscious being on the planet. It’s not relevant, it’s not sexy, it’s not fashionable, and it’s not cool.”

Stella McCartney is another designer fashion company that has been fur-free for years, and the brand touts itself as being fully vegetarian as well. As Gucci joins the ranks of companies that are doing away with fur, so will the rest of the fashion companies that are trailing behind.

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