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Some Toronto International Film Festival attendees didn’t “clap along” at the premiere of Pharrell Williams’ LEGO-animated biopic, Piece by Piece—because there’s nothing “happy” about supporting the slaughter of animals for their skin and fur. During a post-screening speaking panel, a PETA protester called out the musician and Louis Vuitton men’s creative director with a bold sign that read, “Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals for Fashion.”
Addressing the disruptor, Pharrell apparently recognized that the use of wild-animal skins and fur is despicable, saying, “You know what? You’re right.”
In a letter to Pharrell, PETA questioned the musician about his statement that his team is “working on” removing animal skins and fur from his designs: “You made this same comment in Paris in July at your Olympics kick-off party. It doesn’t take ‘work’ to make a decision to stop doing something that most designers have already stopped doing. You have the power to make an important change now, and if you don’t, you should take it somewhere where you can.”
Why Is PETA Putting Pharrell on Blast?
Piece by Piece is an appropriate metaphor for many of Louis Vuitton’s items, which contain bits and pieces of hacked-up animal skin and fur. A PETA video exposé of a Vietnam crocodile farm that has supplied skins to LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, showed crocodiles packed into small, filthy concrete pits, some narrower than the length of their bodies. Another PETA Asia investigation revealed that workers at facilities supplying LVMH struck pythons repeatedly on the head, suspended them in the air, inflated their bodies with water, and disemboweled them—even as they still were moving.
LVMH has yet to join the long list of designers that have gone fur-free, even though multiple investigations into the fur industry have revealed workers bludgeoning, suffocating, and electrocuting animals. Sometimes, workers even skin them alive.
Will Pharrell Change His Tune and Cut Cruelty From His Collections?
There are no blurred lines here—animals are living, feeling beings who don’t want to be killed for clothing. Acknowledging that they suffer for fashion is not enough—Pharrell needs to take real action by ending the use of wild-animal skins and fur in his designs.
Dozens of major designers and retailers, including Calvin Klein, Chanel, Nordstrom, and Tommy Hilfiger, have all stopped using wild-animal skins and fur. Please join PETA in calling on Pharrell to do the same:
