Could fur finally be banned from London fashion week?

The pop star and British fashion ambassador Paloma Faith has teamed up with animal rights charity PETA to campaign for a permanent ban on fur use at London Fashion Week.

Faith has exclusively shared a letter sent to Stephanie Phair, the newly-appointed chair of the British Fashion Council, with The Telegraph, arguing that the demand for real fur products has almost disappeared in the UK, and that there is no need for designers to glamorise the wearing of fur via catwalk shows. She supports PETA in calling for a no-fur policy to be instilled at all British Fashion Council-run events.

“It can't have escaped your notice that the world is turning its back on fur,” Faith writes. “Around the globe, consumers and leading fashion designers are rejecting the killing of foxes, rabbits, minks, and other animals for vanity. Here in the UK, fur farming has been banned for almost two decades, and efforts are underway to stop its importation entirely once Britain leaves the European Union.”

“The BFC shouldn't be endorsing a material whose production is deemed so cruel that it is outlawed in the UK,” she continues. “With the vast number of cutting-edge, eco-friendly faux furs available on the market today, I'm sure you'll agree that there's no longer any excuse for killing animals for their fur.”

Research conducted by PETA at London Fashion Week in February found that 95 per cent of designers with a show or presentation on the schedule didn't use fur this season. This is up almost 10 per cent on autumn 2016's shows, where 86 per cent were fur free. Headline show Burberry chose to review its policies this year, and opted to eliminate fur from its latest collections. The catwalk show closed with the supermodel Cara Delevingne draped in a cape made of rainbow striped faux fur - a landmark victory for PETA when the collections being presented are for the autumn/ winter season.

Faith’s letter targets the remaining 5% of British designer brands that do still use fur, as well as those who still haven’t quite decided where they stand. Protesters gathered en masse in February to demonstrate in front of the Burberry and Mary Katrantzou shows - both of which, it emerged, had not used real fur this season.  

More than 45,000 people signed a change.org petition last September to call for a fur ban at London Fashion Week. Attendees at the shows, including globally recognised press and buyers, also received an email from the BFC advising them not to wear fur when attending shows, but no rules have been set for designers. 

Internationally, PETA has celebrated many other key hits this year. In January, Gucci, changed its policies to ban fur. “Gucci will no longer use, promote or publicise animal fur beginning with its spring/summer 2018 collection,” Marco Bizzarri, Gucci’s president and chief executive, announced. The brand promptly swapped its famous kangaroo fur-lined loafers, for a brushed lambswool version.

Phair, who was appointed the youngest ever chair of the British Fashion Council, is yet to respond to Faith’s letter.