Alexandre Birman Bans Exotic Skins After PETA Appeal

For Immediate Release:
December 28, 2020

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Following communications with PETA, luxury shoemaker Alexandre Birman has confirmed that it will stop sourcing exotic-animal skins. In thanks, PETA sent the company a box of delicious alligator-shaped vegan chocolates.

“Behind every crocodile- or snake-skin shoe is an animal who endured a violent, bloody death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA thanks Alexandre Birman for protecting these vulnerable animals and points kind consumers to high-quality vegan materials that are the future of fashion.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—notes that as the world battles a deadly virus that originated in other animals used for their flesh, Alexandre Birman’s decision is more important than ever. Animals raised for their skin are kept in squalid, severely crowded conditions on farms, which creates a major breeding ground for various pathogens, including zoonotic ones like salmonella, E. coli, and West Nile virus.

PETA and its affiliates have documented that in the exotic-skins industry, alligators’ necks are hacked open and metal rods are shoved into their heads; snakes are pumped full of water to loosen their skin, which is peeled off, often while they’re still conscious; and feathers are yanked out of ostriches with pliers while the birds are still alive.

Alexandre Birman joins Brooks Brothers, Jil Sander, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, HUGO BOSS, Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westwood, and many other companies in banning exotic skins.

PETA opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.