‘Best Dressed’ Means Vegan…From the Shoes Up!
We’ve made “fur” an F-word, obliterated angora, and convinced numerous designers to say, “See you later, alligator.” And PETA entities are reminding shoppers and designers that no being wants to be a belt, bag, or boot.
Cows Are Divine, Not Design
Cows are remarkable animals with individual personalities and impressive cognitive abilities. They enjoy an intellectual challenge and show excitement when they find a solution. They are also deeply emotional, developing close relationships and shedding tears.
PETA investigations show that cows endure castration, branding, and tail-docking without painkillers. At the slaughterhouse, their throats are slit and some are skinned while they’re conscious. Leather is also made from pigs, goats, sheep, ostriches, kangaroos, and even dogs and cats, whose skin is exported from China. Their insides go for meat, and their skin is sold for often higher prices than their flesh.
Onto the Catwalks, Into the Stores, Out on the Street
Fashion houses know that sending animal skin down the runway is like adding “PETA protester” to the guest list. When a supporter disrupted Coach’s New York Fashion Week show shouting, “Coach kills!” even as officers dragged him away, attendees whipped out their cellphone cameras, and the demonstration swiftly went viral, spreading the message. Another sign-wielding ally let celebrities exiting Michael Kors’ presentation know about the cruelty that Kors won’t cop to.
Taking our skin-free plea from the catwalk to the sidewalk, stars Caylee Cowan, Griffin Maxwell Brooks, Sara Camposarcone, and Ameya Okamoto posed nearly nude in the windows of Stella McCartney’s flagship store and around New York City with signs proclaiming, “We’d rather go naked than wear leather!” PETA’s AI-powered robot calf, Charli XC Cow, has been popping up everywhere, making shoppers do a double-take as she asks, “Are you wearing my mother?” Charli even made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert when the host shared her picture and mentioned that she “inform[s] shoppers of the mutilations and violent deaths that are behind every leather jacket.”
“Cow-slaughter and man-slaughter are in my opinion two sides of the same coin.” – Mahatma Gandhi
And if chronic cow killer Coach thought that PETA entities would put our skin-free gloves back on outside of runway season, it was set straight when supporters appeared at stores across the US and UK. Megaphone-toting demonstrators also took over the company’s annual meeting and confronted the brand about its cruelty and greenwashing – slapping buzzwords like “sustainable” on bags that only sustain cow slaughter.
PETA Principal Ingrid Newkirk took the message to India – where PETA entity investigations have shown workers breaking cows’ tails and rubbing chili peppers into their eyes – turning heads as she was “skinned alive” in front of a “slaughterhouse” in Mumbai. PETA Germany’s investigation in neighboring Bangladesh revealed cows kicking out as their skin was torn off and child tannery workers standing in toxic chemicals.
Vegan Leather Is Sprouting Up All Over
Whether you’re into catalogs or couture, you can find clothing, accessories, and even auto interiors in vegan leather. Plant leather is now being produced from apples, pineapples, grapes, cacti, tomatoes, mango, mushrooms, cork, and even the malted barley left over from brewing beer. Look for it, and ask for it. Let companies know that’s what you will buy.
Check out PETAApprovedVegan.com or PETAShoppingGuide.com to browse animal- and eco-friendly vegan leather styles, then urge Coach to make the switch.
