Tim Gunn Endorses Proposed Statewide Fur Ban
Style Icon Joins PETA in Urging California Senators to Pass New Bill
For Immediate Release:
August 26, 2019
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
This morning, fashion guru Tim Gunn sent a letter on PETA’s behalf urging members of the California Senate Appropriations Committee to vote “yes” on Assembly Bill 44, which would ban the sale of fur statewide. In the letter, Gunn—who routinely works in California, including on his new show, Making the Cut—points out that Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Berkeley, and San Francisco have all banned new fur sales, making a statewide ban the next logical move.
“Designers are finding it increasingly easy to meet consumer demand and be creative without being cruel,” writes Gunn. “I’d love to hear that California has taken yet another bold and progressive step in preventing cruelty to animals by banning fur sales.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA’s letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Anthony J. Portantino follows.
August 26, 2019
The Honorable Anthony J. Portantino
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair
California State Senate
Dear Sen. Portantino,
I hope this letter finds you well. Throughout my career—as chair of fashion design at Parsons School of Design, creative director at Liz Claiborne, and host of Project Runway—I’ve advocated against fur. I’m thrilled to know that California—where I routinely work, including on my new show Making the Cut—is considering a bill, AB 44, that would ban fur sales statewide. I urge you to vote “yes” on this compassionate legislation.
In the fur industry, foxes, rabbits, chinchillas, and even dogs and cats are anally electrocuted, gassed, bludgeoned, and often skinned alive. After watching PETA’s “Fur in 60 Seconds” video, I’m sure you’ll agree that tremendous violence occurs to produce every fur collar and coat. In addition, fur production requires dangerous chemicals that pollute the environment. To keep animal pelts from putrefying, furriers steep them in noxious chemicals such as chromium and formaldehyde.
It’s unsurprising that eco-friendly and animal-free fashion is trending. Designers are finding it increasingly easy to meet consumer demand and be creative without being cruel. Michael Kors, Versace, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani, and Chanel have enacted fur-free policies, as have dozens of mass-market brands like H&M, Zara, Gap Inc., Nine West, and The North Face.
Lawmakers have already banned the sale of new fur items in Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and West Hollywood, and a statewide ban is the next logical step. I’d love to hear that California has taken yet another bold and progressive step in preventing cruelty to animals by banning fur sales. Please do the right thing and support AB 44.
Very truly yours,
Tim Gunn
