During New York Fashion Week, thousands of style editors from around the world scurry between runway shows in cabs—that's why PETA planned to run Stella McCartney's new leather exposé on the city's unavoidable video screens in taxis. We're no strangers to having our ads banned, so we've kind of grown thick skin about it, but we weren't prepared for the lightning-quick rejection that VeriFone Media gave us. It seems the company only wants to run consumer promotions, not cautions.

"As a designer, I like to work with fabrics that don't bleed; that's why I avoid all animal skins," Stella says in the video, which spotlights animal suffering and the human health risk and environmental impact of leather tanneries. "Please join me in exploring the huge variety of fashionable shoes, belts, purses, and wallets that aren't the product of a cow's violent death."

We're disappointed that the advertising company told us to take a hike, but we're launching the video for Fashion Week anyway. Check it out below:

Explore some überhip cruelty-free fashions with PETA's style guide.

The word on Twitter is that celebs are rejoicing over Ringling's being slapped with the largest penalty in circus history for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Other celebs are buzzing about going postal.

Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski gave dogs in animal shelters something to rejoice over, discussing her "Always Adopt, Never Buy" campaign with PETA in the winter issue of Modern Dog magazine and urging readers to hop on the adoption train. As if that weren't enough, she then asked them to think about where fur comes from.

Morrissey and his bandmates left little doubt over what they think of fur when the band donned PETA shirts with a, ahem, choice message at a show in L.A.

Wearing fur is such a faux pas that designers are hard-pressed to find celebs willing to look like a permutation of Bigfoot. Reigning Sexiest Vegetarian Kristen Wiig says she will "never wear fur," and cruelty-free fashion designer Stella McCartney snagged the Red Carpet Award at the British Fashion Awards for her fur- and leather-free designs.

This week, animals lost a great advocate when comedian Patrice O'Neal passed away. "I am … [an] extreme animal lover," he once said. "I get sick when I see animals suffering." Farewell, friend.

Attention, ladies. Now you, too, can cause your neighbors to phone in Big Foot sightings. You, too, can look like the frightening "before" picture on an infomercial for Epilady. And you, too, can look like you are trying to kidnap the cast of Cats.

How? It's fall fashion season, and mixed in with some lovely new styles (such as Stella McCartney's color-block sheath dress that celebs are loving) are flops that make it seem like designers have been hitting the sauce a lot harder than they've been hitting the sketch pad. One design that is particularly puzzling is this epic fail: jackets with fur sleeves.

Of course! Women want their arms to look fat and hairy. Why didn't we think of that? But seriously, if you do favor a furry look, go with faux, like fauxier to the stars Donna Salyers' Fabulous-Furs, so that you'll avoid killing more animals than the entire Cullen clan.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

All they need is love! Congratulations to Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell who were married in an intimate ceremony at London's Old Marylebone Town Hall on Sunday.

After the nuptials, longtime vegetarian and PETA supporter Sir Paul and his new bride invited family and close friends to his St. John's Wood estate for a three-course vegetarian feast and two wedding cakes. The bride looked radiant in a dress designed by Sir Paul's daughter, Stella, who is leather- and fur-free and also a PETA supporter. 

While many hearts are surely breaking anew around the world at news of "the cute one" being taken off the market, we're happy that Sir Paul, who gives so much of his time to helping animals, has found someone special to give all his loving to.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

mandiberg/cc by 2.0

 
Last year, award-winning designer John Bartlett went vegan—and so did his celebrated collections, which no longer contain any animal skins.

So when Bartlett heard about the upcoming Runway to Green eco-fashion show, he also wanted to make sure that there would be no fur flying on the runway, considering how the fur industry wreaks havoc on the environment. Bartlett penned a letter to Salma Hayek, one of the hosts of the event, outlining how fur is loaded with toxic chemicals to keep it from rotting in people's closets and how fur farms have been fined millions of dollars by the Environmental Protection Agency for hazardous-waste violations.

Bartlett was thrilled to hear back almost immediately that there will be no fur at Runway to Green. Hayek herself shuns fur, as do designers Stella McCartney and Tommy Hilfiger, who will feature pieces in the show. Now that all the other designers have agreed to follow suit, Runway to Green will truly be both Earth-friendly and animal-friendly.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Maybe vegan Natalie Portman's Oscar-winning performance in Black Swan inspired us. PETA supporters took the use of fur in Paris Fashion Week collections into their own toe shoes with a demonstration that was visually stunning. To pointe out how animals killed for their fur are bludgeoned, electrocuted, and skinned alive, a dancer wearing a fur coat was sniffed, stalked, and "bitten" by other dancers portraying the animals she was wearing, and then her limp body was carried away.

The ballet, which featured dancers from Cirque du Soleil, Mozart, and Dracula, was performed outside the historic ballet venue Paris Opéra just after Stella McCartney's fur-free fashion show. The group drew a huge crowd and gave a convincing portrayal of why people should pirouette away from cruel fur. 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Here's something that vegans and meat-eaters alike can agree on: Factory pig farms are bad for animals and the environment. After watching the documentary Pig Business, which shows the conditions in which factory-farmed pigs are raised, fashion designer and lifelong vegetarian Stella McCartney as well as actor Sienna Miller are asking people to stop eating factory-farmed pork and are calling for a European ban on factory pig farms. 
 

Miller states, "Before I started researching the subject, I never truly realized the appalling extent to which pigs—intelligent animals—were treated in certain parts of the world."

Pig Business, which debuted in 2009, shows pigs who are confined to filthy crates so small that the animals can't turn around or lie down comfortably. It also features several prominent environmental advocates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who speak out against the huge toll that factory farms take on the environment.

"This film gives us the information we need to have to make a change as a consumer, to show government and food manufacturers we deserve better," says Stella. "And so do the pigs giving their lives in such a barbaric way. If we stop the demand, they have to stop the cruelty and deceit."

Via Vegetarian Star

Written by Michelle Sherrow

I have but two great loves in life: animals and shoes. But there's nothing I hate more than when the latter causes the former suffering. So I was over the moon—and slightly jealous—when I heard that mayjah fashion house Dior had made special vegan shoes for the new face of its Miss Dior Cherie campaign, Natalie Portman.

Portman, a vegan shoe designer herself and a girl after my own heart, has been known to rock Stella McCartney on many a red carpet. (BTW, did you hear that I'm giving away a Stella McCartney bag on PETA's Facebook page?) But for her media appearances promoting Black Swan (my new favorite movie), she's been switching it up between McCartney accessories and her veganized Dior shoes.

"One of the things that's been so nice is that Dior made all of the shoes for me with no animals and no leather or anything, because I don't wear any leather," Portman told WWD.com. "They remade all my shoes so I can wear Dior shoes without taking lives." Ya, that's pretty nice.

Written by Royale Ziegler

The list of celebrities who have been spotted wearing Stella McCartney's luxe animal-friendly fashions reads like a Hollywood who's who: Jada Pinkett Smith. Kate Winslet. Charlize Theron. Could the Queen's Guards be next?

We hope so. After a faux-fur prototype of a Queen's Guard's bearskin cap was presented during a meeting earlier this week with several Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials, we're encouraged by the possibilities. Stella, who collaborated with Canadian eco-designer Atom Cianfarani on the prototype, has been working with PETA UK for several years to develop a faux-fur hat that will pass the MoD's rigorous water-resistance tests.

"Historically, England has a very high regard for animals, so it makes perfect sense that the MoD should continue shedding ceremonial furs from uniforms," she says.

The new material is lighter and more breathable than bear fur, is less expensive, and of course, no bears were killed to make it. Currently, one bear is killed for every hat that's produced.

The MoD officials were impressed by PETA UK's prototype and have greenlighted further testing. Check back here for updates.

Written by Paula Moore

img2.timeinc / CC

Kate Moss has made many fatally ugly fashion faux pas, but today we were left pleasantly surprised after learning that Kate's taken her friend (and PETA U.K.'s 2007 Person of the Year) Stella McCartney's advice and decided to give Meat-Free Mondays a chance.

We still can't forgive the supermodel for her furry ways, but we're hoping that this animal-friendly diet sticks.

Written by Logan Scherer