Whose Skin Are You In? PETA to Put On ‘Human Skin’ Fashion Show Outside Fifth + Broadway
For Immediate Release:
November 26, 2025
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
On the busiest shopping day of the year, PETA models will strut their stuff on a “runway” outside Fifth + Broadway in downtown Nashville, showcasing fashionable designs made of hyper-realistic “human leather.” The provocative Free the Animals Friday fashion show will point out that skin is skin, no matter who it comes from, while urging holiday shoppers to choose animal-friendly vegan materials instead.
“Every bit of animal skin on store racks and shelves was stripped from an individual who felt fear and pain and didn’t want to die,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is encouraging shoppers to keep cruelty off their gift lists and opt for fashionable vegan options this holiday and beyond.”
Where: Fifth + Broadway Shopping Center Downtown, 5036 Broadway, Nashville
When: Friday, November 28, 12 noon
Why: Cows have friends and mourn when a loved one dies or when they’re separated from each other. Yet cows killed for leather may be skinned and dismembered while still conscious—after they’ve endured castration (for males), branding, and tail docking, all without painkillers. In addition to the horrific cruelty that the leather industry inflicts on animals, it’s a major contributor to climate change, water pollution, land devastation, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity. Sustainable vegan leathers are durable and fashionable without the cruelty or environmental destruction of leather.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
