Italian luxury brand Moncler announced this week that it would go fur-free from 2024, following in the footsteps of other fashion houses that have decided to stop sourcing the animal-derived material.
“The company will stop sourcing fur this year and the last collection to feature fur will be Fall/Winter 2023,” it said in a statement.
The brand revealed that as a show of its “commitment to responsible business practices,” it will be partnering with the Italian animal rights group LAV “as a representative of the Fur Free Alliance.”
According to CBS News, PJ Smith, Fashion Policy Director at the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, said that he was “thrilled” Moncler was doing its part to make the fashion industry “more humane.”
“Italy has quickly become a hub for fur-free fashion now that the country banned fur farming last year and many of its renowned brands—including Armani, Prada, Versace, Valentino, and Gucci—are fur-free,” he added.
However, despite its resolution to no longer use fur, the brand still uses other animal-derived materials such as wool and down, as per World Animal News.
It claims that its famed down coats only use the material when it is “a byproduct of the food industry and that is traced and certified according to the DIST Protocol.”
The protocol helps to ensure “traceability, high farming standards, and animal welfare through a scientific approach all along the supply chain.”
As fur becomes more and more obsolete in today’s fashion world, will brands focus on creating vegan alternatives to commonly-used animal-derived materials? It certainly seems to be heading in that direction.