Fashion Police! 12 Times PETA Called Out Hermés for Being an Accessory to Murder
Workers hacking open live crocodiles. Slaughterhouse staff plucking sensitive ostriches for profit. Behind every Hermès handbag is a trail of blood. That’s why PETA entities around the world have been crashing fashion weeks, storming storefronts, and taking over headlines to push the company to ditch wild-animal skins.
Take a look at some of our boldest actions calling Hermès out—loud, clear, and in your face.
A Gift From Charles Darwin’s Great-Great-Grandson
For his birthday, Hermès CEO Axel Dumas received one of the best gifts there is: A chance to evolve. Charles Darwin’s great-great-grandson, Chris Darwin, sent Dumas a copy of his ancestor’s famous work, On The Origin of Species, to encourage him to leave wild-animal skins, such as those made from crocodiles, ostriches, snakes, and lizards, in the brand’s past.
Late in life, Charles Darwin wrote, ‘I have often and often regretted that I have not done more direct good for our fellow creatures.’ Now, Chris Darwin is urging Hermès to consider the opportunity for the company to expand into ethical luxury by using eco-friendly plant-based leathers for its accessories. “Hermès doesn’t have to be wedded to cruel materials that other companies shunned long ago,” Chris wrote in his letter to the company.
Join Darwin in urging Hermès to leave our fellow animals alone and go wild-animal-skins-free.
PETA Condemned Hermès’ Wild-Animal Skin Sales at Shareholder Meeting
“When will Hermès ban wild-animal skins and embrace ethical luxury by launching vegan Birkin and Kelly bags?” That’s the question that PETA, which owns stock in the company, asked Executive Chair Axel Dumas to address at the company’s 2025 annual meeting.
Crocodiles are doting parents. Mother crocodiles hear their babies chirping while still in their eggs and will help them work their way out. They will also gently carry their babies in their mouths to protect them. Yet two or three young crocodiles are killed to make just one Hermès Birkin bag.
PETA France Requested a Funeral for Hermès’ Victims
PETA France sent a letter to the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Jean-Christophe Fromantin, requesting permission to place a memorial in the town’s cemetery, where founder Thierry Hermès is buried. The tombstone would commemorate the animals killed for the brand’s bags.
PETA Punched Up With Parody: How to DIY a Hermès Birkin Bag
PETA’s DIY YouTube video, which shows a fashion vlogger teaching their audience how to make a “Hermès Birkin bag” from scratch, starting with a three-year-old crocodile, drew more than one million views across all platforms within just a few weeks. Watch it now:
PETA France Took Over the Hermès Runway at Paris Fashion Week
During the Hermès Spring/Summer 2025 show at Paris Fashion Week, three advocates took turns storming the runway wearing tops that read “Animals Are Not Fabric” and holding signs with the message “Hermès: Ban Wild-Animal Skins.”
PETA Challenged Hermès to Visit Wild-Animal Skins Slaughterhouses
“You act as if you have nothing to hide .… Prove it.” During the French fashion house’s annual meeting, a PETA representative asked Hermès’ CEO Axel Dumas, “When shall we go together to examine the actual conditions in which the animals live and die?”
‘Hermès Stinks of Death’: PETA France Protestors Dropped a Stink Bomb in Brand’s Boutique
While customers queued in front of the Hermès Paris boutique ahead of Christmas, PETA France animal defenders released a foul-smelling spray in the store. One of the advocates wore a T-shirt saying, “Hermès Stinks of Death” and held up a sign reading, “Hermès: Stop Exotic Skins.”
A PETA UK Animal Defender Crashed the Hermès Catwalk
As Hermès held its show at the Garde Républicaine in Paris, a PETA UK “model” charged the runway, brandishing a sign that read, “Hermès: Drop Exotic Skins.”
Famous Animal Advocate Tash Peterson Brought ‘Blood’ and ‘Guts’ From Australia to Hermès’ Flagship London Store
Australian animal rights advocate Tash Peterson drenched herself in “blood” and “guts” from a “Birkin bag” in front of Hermès’ flagship London store in a push for the luxury retailer to take reptile skins off its shelves.
PETA Made a Plea: Hermès Should Respect Jane Birkin’s Legacy and Drop Croc
Following the passing of actor and singer Jane Birkin, who once asked for her name to be removed from the Hermès Birkin crocodile-skin bag due to concerns over cruelty to animals, PETA fired off a letter calling on the retailer to retire the handbag.
We asked the fashion house to adopt a policy prohibiting the use of wild animals’ skins “so that no more wildlife is killed in her name.”
Hermès Stores in Paris and London Hit With PETA UK’s ‘Crocodile’ Protesters
In Paris and London, PETA advocates in crocodile masks descended on Hermès stores to show passersby how these sensitive reptiles suffer for the brand’s accessories.
PETA Protesters in Heels and Hazmat Suits Called on Hermès to Prevent Future Pandemics
“Prevent Pandemics: Ban Exotic Skins.” That’s the message PETA supporters in stilettos, hazmat suits, and gas masks sent at Hermès’ Madison Avenue boutique in New York—all while carrying protest signs shaped like Kelly bags. The bold demonstration pointed out that animals in unsanitary conditions gave rise to COVID-19 and pose a significant risk of future pandemics.
How Do Animals Suffer for Hermès Accessories?
PETA investigations have revealed crocodiles languishing in filthy concrete pits and alligators packed into tiny filthy pools on farms that supplied skins to Hermès-owned tanneries. A PETA investigator documented workers crudely hacking into the necks of conscious alligators and trying to scramble their brains with metal rods.
Shocking video footage from the Australian organization Kindness Project showed workers electrocuting, stabbing, and mutilating crocodiles with screwdrivers on farms with ties to Hermès.
PETA entities have also documented how workers in the fashion industry chop off conscious lizards’ heads with machetes, inflate snakes with water, and electrocute ostriches before slitting their throats in full view of their flockmates.
What Can YOU Do?
In nature, alligators and crocodiles dig tunnels, play, and protect their babies—these sensitive animals do not want to be killed for an accessory. Tell Hermès to leave reptiles alone and go wild-animal-skins-free:
