Berlin Fashion Week, organized by Fashion Council Germany, has announced it will prohibit fashion items made from new feathers, exotic skins, or fur on its runways starting in 2026. This decision, confirmed to PETA Germany, follows in the footsteps of Copenhagen Fashion Week, which embraced similar sustainability guidelines in March 2024.
The initiative comes amid growing awareness sparked by PETA’s investigations into the treatment of animals in industries supplying exotic skins and feathers. PETA Asia’s exposé on Thailand’s exotic-skins industry detailed severe animal cruelty, revealing practices such as confining and brutalizing snakes before processing their skins for fashion use. Notably, two python farms implicated in the investigation supply skins to Caravel, a tannery owned by the fashion conglomerate Kering, which oversees brands like Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.
Berlin Fashion Week joins a global movement that includes Helsinki Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Week, and Stockholm Fashion Week, all of which have already implemented bans on exotic skins. This shift underscores fashion’s evolving commitment to sustainability and ethical practices.
The decision has also been echoed by prominent fashion brands such as Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, Jil Sander, Nordstrom, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Victoria Beckham, and Vivienne Westwood, all of whom have chosen to forego exotic skins in their collections.
With the spotlight now on other fashion events worldwide, advocates urge organizers to follow suit by adopting policies that reject these materials deemed unnecessary, unethical, and incompatible with modern fashion’s values.
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