Stella McCartney’s Winter Collection 2020 show at this year’s Paris Fashion Week saw actors dressed in animal costumes appear on the catwalk alongside models in an “opulent demonstration” emphasizing the brand’s cruelty-free message.

Since opening in 2001, Stella McCartney has never used leather, feathers, skins, fur or animal-derived glue in their fashion products. 

“While there were animals on our catwalk, there wasn’t any fur or skins in our collection,” stressed the brand. “We are proudly the only luxury fashion house in the world that did not put real leather on our runway, and [we] welcome our friends in the industry to join us.”

Stella cow catwalk

Image Credit: Stella McCartney

Interspersed with real models, two cows, a horse, two rabbits, a crocodile and a fox ‘strutted their stuff’ on the catwalk with the brand’s latest handbag creations made from vegan “leather” and recycled plastic. The new collection used a range of vegan materials to create bags, animal-free shoes, shearlings and coats.

“What we try to do here at Stella is to sugar-coat a powerful, meaningful message in a little bit of humour and fun, to make our point in a palatable and digestible way so that people listen,” McCartney explained. “These animals are the ingredients of everyone else’s fashion shows. We are the only luxury fashion house in the world that isn’t killing animals on the runway. I wanted to make that point, but in a joyous way.”

Millions of animals are needlessly killed each year to produce fur coats, hats, trinkets and more for the fashion industry. Lady Freethinker’s petition to stop Neiman Marcus from selling children fur products has collected over 28,280 signatures. Thank you to all those who have signed. If you haven’t yet, please add your name to stop animals from being slaughtered for fashion.

SIGN: Neiman Marcus, Stop Selling Children Fur from Slaughtered Animals