The letter to French Minister Boris Johnson was signed by British designers, including Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood. In it, they ask for a ban on the sale of genuine fur in the United Kingdom.
The letter was sent to Boris Johnson’s office last Thursday and describes the designers’ ability to create garments “without complicity caused by the fur trade”.
According to the designers, there is a “declining” interest in fur products on British shopping streets. “The sale of fur simply does not conform to the protocol of the majority of retailers, designers and companies that make up the UK fashion retail business,” it wrote. Nearly three-quarters of British civilians will be barred from importing and selling animal fur, according to a report by Humane Society International, which signed the letter. “Fur has no place in compassionate society, nowadays its use is unnecessary and unforgivable. Fur is clearly immoral, cruel and barbaric,” says designer Stella McCartney.
First country
The ball is currently in Johnson’s court and he has not yet confirmed that he read the letter. A spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the British Prime Minister would “respond in a timely manner”. If the letter’s demands are met, Britain will be the first country to no longer tolerate real fur on store shelves.
The United Kingdom became the first European country to ban fur cultivation in 2000 under the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair. Since then, many British fashion brands, including Burberry, Victoria Beckham and McCartney, have banned the use of fur in their own manufacturing processes – even without the strict laws surrounding it.
