MILAN – On the opening day of Milan Fashion Week (MFW), three supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) disguised themselves as “Death” and dragged furs through the city’s Piazza del Duomo, brandishing scythes with the words “Fur is dead.”

This action followed a letter from the organisation, signed by Italian model and actress Elisabetta Canalis, addressed to the National Chamber of Italian Fashion with a request to ban fur from the event.

“Furs are starting to become history, as modern stylists say no to animal skin in favor of innovative vegan materials that do not cause suffering to animals," said Director of PETA Elisa Allen. “The fur business, now dying, massacres living beings … just to produce a fashion accessory, so it is imperative that Milan Fashion Week takes note and implements a policy that forbids fur on the catwalk,” she added.

PETA, whose motto states in part that “animals are not our own” has pointed out that more than 100 million animals are killed for fur every year. On farms, animals are confined to small metal cages, without any possibility of living in a natural way, and are then inhumanely killed.

The majority of today's designers, including the Italian brands Armani, Furla, Gucci and Versace, have chosen to abandon the use of fur in their collections.

Elsewhere, high fashion events, including Oslo Fashion Week and Melbourne Fashion Week, have banned furs from the catwalk, while the synthetic fur manufacturer Ecopel has announced a project to create a new fur from the recycling of plastic bottles, which will have the double the benefit of alleviating both the suffering of animals and the imminent crisis of plastic pollution.

if