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Fashion Council Germany—the organizer of Berlin Fashion Week—has confirmed to PETA Germany that it will no longer allow fashion that uses new feathers, exotic skins, or fur on its catwalks starting in 2026. The event is following the example of Copenhagen Fashion Week, which took this animal-friendly and innovative step in March 2024 and is adopting many of its official sustainability guidelines.
This decision comes after a litany of high-profile investigations by PETA entities showing the torment that animals endure in the exotic-skins and feather industries. A PETA Asia investigation into the Thai exotic-skins industry revealed that thousands of snakes are cruelly confined and then bashed over the head with hammers and impaled with hooks while they’re still moving. The two python farms that PETA Asia’s investigators visited supply skins to Caravel, a tannery owned by fashion conglomerate Kering, the parent company of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and other brands.
Berlin Fashion Week isn’t the first event to ban exotic skins, and it won’t be the last. Others include Helsinki Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Week, and Stockholm Fashion Week. These moves are just part of fashion’s ongoing compassionate revolution.
Now, all eyes are on the organizers of other fashion week events, who should immediately follow suit by implementing public policies against these unnecessary, unfashionable, and unethical materials.
Top fashion brands—including Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, Jil Sander, Nordstrom, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Victoria Beckham, and Vivienne Westwood—are also ditching exotic skins.
Stay Fashionable and Sustainable: Always Wear Vegan!
When you shop, you can make a difference and help reduce the number of animals senselessly killed for fashion by choosing one of the many innovative and sustainable vegan materials that are now readily available, including apple, cactus, and mushroom leather.
Check out PETA’s “How to Wear Vegan” guide, which can help you keep animals out of your closet.
And please take a moment to speak up for ostriches, crocodiles, snakes, and other animals who suffer greatly for the production of expensive bags, belts, shoes, and other items.
