Michael Kors has recently announced they are becoming cruelty-free. Michael Kors has recently said he plans on going cruelty-free which will kick into full effect by the end of December 2018, with plans already starting to begin now to slowly phase it out.
The American luxury brand, in the past had featured models wearing luxurious fur coats down the runway in the past, has joined the growing list of fashion companies who are looking to alternative methods in creating clothes after coming under severe pressure and criticism from animal rights activists.
“This decision marks a new chapter as our company continues to evolve its use of innovative materials,” said John D. Idol, Michael Kors’ chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
“Due to technological advances in fabrications, we now have the ability to create a luxe aesthetic using non-animal fur,” added designer Michael Kors. “We will showcase these new techniques in our upcoming runway show in February.”
Gucci has been the most recent brand, prior to Michael Kors, to please on dropping fur from its collection back in October, joining other brands such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Armani, which have all recently gone fur-free.
With big brands switching to fur-free, there still is a predominant use of fur being used in the collection, according to Fur Information Council of America spokesperson Keith Kaplan. Kaplan adds, “Nearly 70 percent of major designers included fur in their Autumn/Winter 2017 collections.”
“In the pre-Fall 2018 showings currently underway, fur continues to maintain a major presence, because innovative new techniques in fur processing and production allow designers a breadth of creative possibilities unmatched by any other textile,” said Kaplan. “Designers and consumers also recognize the value of fur as a natural and sustainable product, as well as the artisanal craft skills that make each fur piece unique, [which is] especially important as consumers become more aware of the environmental and social costs of mass-produced fast fashion.”
The announcement came soon after animal rights activists interrupted Kors’ speech back in June, where he was giving a speech in a packed theatre at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of art. Over 20 protestors ended up taking the stage and balcony, shouting and playing sounds of animals being killed for fur, which ended up shutting the event down for approximately ten minutes.
