Milan Fashion Week says it will “invite” brands not to show fur

Milan Fashion Week said on Friday it would “invite” brands participating in its high-profile shows not to show fur, in a partial concession to animal rights activists following pressure.

The National Chamber of Italian Fashion (CNMI), which organizes the fashion week, has been under pressure from animal activists to ban fur from shows, something fashion weeks in London, New York and several others have already done. But guidelines released Friday did not meet activists’ demands, so the request to not show fur was voluntary.

“The CNMI believes that the most effective approach is not to impose bans… but to request that clothing, accessories or any other items made from fur not be presented during the Milan Fashion Week shows,” the body said.

The new guidelines, which will take effect from September, include that the chamber not use fur in its communications. According to the chamber, materials excluded from the guidelines include sheepskin, ancient hides and skins obtained “by indigenous communities through traditional subsistence hunting practices.”

Most of the fashion names showing at Milan Fashion Week have already ditched fur, including Armani Group, Dolce & Gabbana and Prada, but a big obstacle has been Fendi, which started out as a furrier.

In her first show for the brand, new Fendi designer Maria Grazia Chiuri showed a collection that included “remodeled” furs, or pieces of old furs reworked into new designs.

In March, anti-fur activists demonstrated during women’s shows, unfurling banners reading “Fur-free Milan Fashion Week.” Animal activists noted that the new CNMI guidelines fell short of the outright bans on fur seen at other fashion weeks, but they still called it progress.

“Without a fur-free policy like those implemented at New York and London Fashion Weeks, there is no guarantee that cruelty will be excluded from the Milan catwalks, but we hope that this anti-fur statement will encourage greater use of next-generation biomaterials, which are both beautiful and responsible,” said Emma Hakansson of Collective Fashion Justice.

The European Commission has not yet ruled on a 2023 citizens’ initiative that called on the EU to ban fur farms and the killing of animals such as mink, foxes, raccoon dogs or chinchillas solely for their fur. Activists cite the inherent cruelty of fur farming, in which animals are crammed into small wire cages before being gassed or electrocuted.