Luxury fashion house Valentino is going fur-free.
The iconic Italian designer is the latest brand to announce that it will drop fur from all future collections. In addition to this, it will drop its Milan-based fur subsidiary, Valentino Polar, by the end of the year. The brand intends to be fur-free by 2022.
According to Valentino, ditching fur is part of a wider move toward becoming a more ethical, environmentally-friendly luxury brand.
“The fur-free stance is perfectly in-line with the values of our company,” said CEO Jacopo Venturini in a statement. “We are moving full-steam ahead in the research for alternative materials in view of a greater attention to the environment for the upcoming collections.”
In addition to phasing out fur, Valentino will phase out its sister brand, REDValentino, so that creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli can focus on the main line.
“The aesthetic vision of our creative director – combined with the artisan spirit of workmanship and excellence in execution – harmonizes perfectly with new technologies and future objectives,” Venturini continued.
Luxury Goes Fur-Free
Valentino’s announcement follows a growing list of luxury fashion houses that have decided to part ways with fur. Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga announced their fur-free policies earlier this year, and Gucci, also owned by Kering, committed to excluding fur from its collections in 2017. Other big names in fashion that have ceased the use of fur include Chanel, Michael Kors, Prada, Versace, Adidas, and Diane von Furstenberg.
Brands are not alone in the pivot away from fur. Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nordstrom have all announced that they would no longer sell fur fashion. At the time of the announcement earlier this year, Saks Fifth Avenue chief marketing officer Tracy Margolies said that the decision was influenced by “customer preferences and societal shifts.”
“We recognize that trends constantly evolve, and that the sale of fur remains a significant social issue. As such, eliminating it from our assortment is the right step for us to take at this time,” she said.
Macy’s also cited consumer and brand trends in its decision to end its sale of fur fashion items, adding that it was “researching alternatives to fur.”
