Kering will stop using rabbit-fur-based angora materials from its luxury fashion products.
The French luxury giant, which banned fur in 2021, made headlines earlier this year when subsidiary Gucci released rabbit felt hats. Following a backlash by animal-rights activist group PETA, the Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen parent said it will no longer source angora. The material is made from the fur of a long-haired breed of rabbit by the same name, and has been used in clothing, footwear and accessories.
A representative from Kering told PETA that its implementation of the no-fur ban “has been explicitly reinforced internally to ensure that no rabbit hair or skin is used by our brands.”
“Angora and rabbit felt are torture for these sensitive animals, whose fur is either torn out while they’re still fully conscious or shorn off after they’ve been electrocuted or their necks have been broken,” PETA U.K. vice president of corporate projects Yvonne Taylor said. “We applaud Kering’s compassionate decision and urge the last remaining brands that still sell angora to follow its lead.”
PETA said on its Asia-based investigators visited nearly a dozen rabbit farms in China, where 90 percent of angora is sourced. They found that rabbits were terrorized when plucked or sheared during fur harvesting. The animals are either suspended in the air or stretched across boards as their fur is removed, and those that are sheared are often cut by sharp tools as they struggle to escape. This easily stresses the rabbits, which are prone to heart attacks during the process. A farmer told PETA that 60 percent of rabbits die after one to two years, when their average lifespan is up to eight.
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More than 400 fashion companies, including Inditex, Armani, Burberry, Chloé, Calvin Klein, Valentino, and Lacoste have banned angora. Dolce & Gabbana banned fur and angora products last January, after a two-decade PETA pressure campaign.