Stella McCartney Sheds Light on Leather’s Dark Truth
Inspired and compassionate trendsetter Stella McCartney has stocked shelves around the world with her modern, feminine designs for H&M, Adidas, and her own namesake line. Her designs keep the most famous movie stars on “best dressed” lists around the world (hello, Charlize, Penelope, and Kate!), but best of all, Stella and her award-winning collections are proudly free of leather, fur, and other skins.
Stella’s already revealed the horrors of fur, and now she wants you to learn the facts about leather’s extreme cruelty, environmental destruction, and human health costs and pledge never to wear animal skins again. Watch Stella’s exposé of the global leather industry to find out who your leather bag, belt, or shoe once was.
Because skin is the most economically important coproduct of the meat industry, buying leather directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses—and all the cruelty involved. Purchasing the skins of cows raised in the U.S. likely pays for the horrors of factory farming, including castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning—all without any painkillers. Leather sourced from developing countries such as India and China may have come from animals who experienced untold suffering—such as being dismembered while they’re still conscious—since animal welfare laws there are either non-existent or not enforced. Stella avoids financing any of this barbarity by refusing to wear the skins of tortured animals.
As a committed environmentalist who was named the first-ever Green Designer of the Year by the Accessories Council, Stella is also concerned about leather production’s environmental impact. Tanning, the process of turning skin into leather, requires massive amounts of energy and dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde and coal-tar derivatives, which can end up in nearby soil and water supplies. These toxic chemicals pose a deadly threat to those who work at the tanneries as well as the humans and animals who live nearby.
Want to explore countless cruelty-free options online and in stores? You be proud to promote compassion with fashion that feels as good as it looks. PETA has much more information on the world of cruelty-free fashion.
