No More Butterflies in UNDERCOVER’s Designs Following Push From PETA

For Immediate Release:
November 3, 2023

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

After Jun Takahashi sent terrarium dresses that included live captive butterflies down the runway at Paris Fashion Week, PETA urged the founder and creative director of UNDERCOVER never to do so again—and he kindly agreed, writing in a heartfelt letter to the group that he regrets trapping butterflies who can “fly freely in the sky” and promising “never to use butterflies or living animals in my creations.” In thanks, the group is sending the designer a box of animal-shaped vegan cookies.

In his note, Takahashi writes that he had concerns about featuring live butterflies in the collection, but he was driven to do so because of the significance that they hold for him: At his grandmother’s funeral, he was visited by a white butterfly, and since then, butterflies have frequently flown to him and given him comfort. But he writes that he knew in his heart that displaying them on dresses was a mistake—and he ended his sincere apology by expressing hope that butterflies will still come to his side again in nature.

“PETA thanks Jun Takahashi for recognizing that fragile butterflies belong in nature, not on the runway,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.

Butterflies used for public displays are either wild-caught or captive-bred. They are typically shipped long distances, and many are crushed or die from exposure before they even reach their destination. If they’re turned loose or escape, they often struggle to find food sources and rarely survive.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.