Chanel announced today that it will no longer use exotic animal skins in its designs. That means no crocodile, no lizard, no snake, no stingray, and also no fur, which it had already cut back on considerably in recent years.
Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of fashion, told WWD that “The future of high-end products will come from the know-how of what our atelier is able to do.”
The decision was largely practical, Pavlovksy said, since finding skins that met both Chanel’s quality and ethical standards was becoming too hard. The house will join Gucci, Versace, Burberry, Michael Kors, and Maison Margiela, among others, all of whom in the last year have decided to forgo using fur.
Michael Kors, when announcing the discontinuation of fur in his own designs, said his decision had a lot to do with technological advances in decent faux approximations. As he told W Magazine in September:
“It’s taken us years of experimentation to create a luxurious look and feel that we are happy with,” says Kors, who showed lush, foxlike jackets and vibrant chubbies in his fall collection. “It’s also not as precious as the real thing, which makes it more versatile for the modern woman’s wardrobe. I want my customers to be wearing my clothes in their day-to-day lives, not just keeping them tucked away in their closets for special occasions.”
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