Victoria’s Secret Is PETA’s ‘Company of the Year’ for its Fabulously Innovative Feather-Free Fashion Show
For Immediate Release:
December 16, 2024
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Victoria’s Secret read the room! After previously using up to 620,000 feathers—from chickens, Chinese pheasants, and ostriches—for models’ Angel wings in a single fashion show, the lingerie company returned to the runway this fall after a six-year hiatus showcasing gorgeous wings that were simply heavenly for animals and had one unlikely ally, and former critic, tickled PINK: PETA! PETA has named Victoria’s Secret its 2024 Company of the Year for constructing creative, cutting-edge, vegan Angel wings that used everything from 3-D printed materials and quilted satin, to soda can tabs and Swarovski crystals—all of which left the birds in peace.
Victoria’s Secret’s compassionate decision to spare birds from suffering followed exchanges with PETA, which informed the retailer about the cruel ways birds are raised and killed for their feathers and shared undercover video footage of how the birds’ feathers are obtained.
“Victoria’s Secret’s catwalk comeback showed everyone how to rock the runway without harming birds for fleeting fashion accessories,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA applauds Victoria’s Secret for showing designers and consumers everywhere how to be an angel for animals by going feather-free.”
In their natural habitat, ostriches form strong social bonds and nurture their young for up to three years. But as revealed in a PETA exposé, workers forcibly restrain scared young ostriches and slit their throats before tearing the feathers from their still-warm bodies, sometimes in full view of their flockmates. Other birds fare no better – peacocks, pheasants, emus, turkeys, and chickens all endure miserable lives on crowded farms and painful deaths so that their feathers can be used for fashion.
Past winners of PETA’s Company of the Year include Apple Inc. for ending its use of animal leather across all lines of its merchandise and Save the Duck, which pioneered the groundbreaking insulation technology Plumtech, for proving that outerwear can be warm, stylish, and feather-free.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”— points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
