According to a recent survey, 95% of Brits want to see more vegan fashion – and this year, renowned designers delivered by eliminating fur and angora, inventing with apple and pineapple leather, and more. As a result, PETA is disclosing its 2021 Fashion Awards to celebrate all of the industry trailblazers who are trying to accommodate animal-friendly fashionistas.
Kering was named the Biggest Fur-Free Moment when the fashion house banned fur from all of its brands, and Valentino and Armani’s decision to abandon angora was named the two Best Luxury Moments.
Gucci won an Innovation Award for Demetra, for its in-house vegan leather containing wood compounds, and Stella McCartney won Best Vegan Bag for the Frayme Mylo purse, which was made with a mushroom-derived polymer. Vegan Glow-Up went to the Adidas Stan Smith sneakers, which PETA also handed to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex this year. Ganni received the Progress Award after promising to release grape-leather shoes by 2022 — a treat for eco-conscious #GanniGirls everywhere!
Elisa Allen, PETA Director, said that everyone in fashion, from luxury businesses like Gucci to casual sportswear firms like Adidas, wants to join the animal-free movement. With these awards, PETA honors the designers who are working to prevent cruelty off the runway.
Nike and Piatex also won a Collaboration Award for their “Happy Pineapple” line, which includes pineapple leather versions of Air Force 1 shoes and other items. Allkind won Best Vegan Shoes for their stylish vegan footwear, while Oliver Co London won Men’s Fashion for its sleek wallets made from Italian apple leather.
Elisabetta Franchi received the Special Achievement award for its commitment to being free of fur, angora, and feathers, as well as producing leather-free collections, while House of Sunny received the Best Wool-Free Knitwear award from PETA for its creative designs that are sure to turn heads.
PETA, whose motto is “animals are not ours to wear,” reports that the worldwide leather business slaughters more than 1 billion animals each year. Alligators are grown in overcrowded tanks and bludgeoned to death, while snakes are nailed to trees and sliced open for their exotic skins. Wool sheep are systematically mutilated, tortured, and eventually slaughtered. Animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to dirty, tight metal cages.
