Congratulations to white-hot menswear designer John Bartlett, who just received the American Image Award for Designer of the Year from the American Apparel & Footwear Association. This trendsetting designer is as notable for his compassion as he is for his clothing—he recently announced that he has gone vegan and that the collection that he showed in February will be his last to include leather!

As Bartlett explained, "After working in the fashion industry for over 15 years, I have had a recent awakening of sorts and am committed going forward to discontinue all use of leather. I am very alarmed by the recent resurgence of fur on the runways and will be reaching out to my colleagues about the realities of this horrific aspect of our industry. I am presently working to develop a vegan shoe and accessory line and have gone vegan after discovering the devastating state of factory farming."

And if that's not enough to make you a fan, consider this: When asked by an interviewer what he would do if he weren't a designer, he said he thought that he would be working with dogs in animal shelters. Awwww. Way to go, John!

Written by Jeff Mackey

DannySeo/Creative Commons

First of all, a huge congratulations to Stella McCartney for being named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards last night. Stella beat out Luella Bartley and Anya Hindmarch to score this prestigious award, which solidifies her well-deserved place amongst the world’s top designers.

As an aside, I should point out that I don’t normally get quite this excited about women’s fashion, but Stella’s win is more than just an accolade for a talented designer—it’s a message to the fashion world that truly innovative and progressive designers can do just fine without using fur or leather. Stella, who has been a great friend to PETA over the years, has always been outspoken about her desire to keep her designs animal-friendly, and even took the time to narrate an anti-fur video to help us to persuade other designers to follow suit. Congratulations, Stella—and thanks for everything that you do.