London Fashion Week drops fur from runway

Written by Rob Picheta, CNNLondon

London Fashion Week will drop fur from its runway this season, after organizers confirmed that no designers are planning to use the material at this month's event.

The British Fashion Council (BFC) made the announcement after asking the 80 designers featured in the program whether they will be showing real fur.

"The BFC survey results reflect a cultural change based on ideals and choices made by designer businesses, international brands as well as consumer sentiment," the organization said in a statement.

The decisions were "also encouraged by the stance of multi-brand stores who are moving away from selling fur," the statement added.

British fashion house Burberry said Thursday it would stop using real fur in its collections, joining brands including Gucci, which dropped fur from its collections last year.

A fur protester stormed the runway at Mary Katrantzou's show during London Fashion Week in February 2018. Credit: Rahman Hassani/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

London Fashion Week has been targeted by animal rights activists in recent years. A protester invaded the catwalk during Mary Katrantzou's show at February's festival, which featured faux fur, and shouted "Shame on you, London Fashion Week!"

A campaign calling for the event to drop fur had been launched by activist group PETA UK and British singer Paloma Faith last week.

Faith said on Twitter: "I am so overwhelmed and elated that fur has been banned from London fashion week!"

However, the BFC has not itself imposed a ban on fur being used, and insists it will support choices made by brands at the biannual event.

"Our tradition doesn't really change; we're supporting the designers' creativity and we don't consider that we're in the position to ban fur," a BFC spokesperson said.

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