Jean Paul Gaultier has banned fur from his labels.

Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier

The 66-year-old luxury designer has made the decision to no longer use any animal pelts in any of his clothes and announced his new stance on French television declaring that the way living creatures are killed for their fur to be "absolutely deplorable".

Mimi Bekhechi - director of international programmes at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) - insists that Gaultier's decision is a "sign of changed times" as people no longer want to wear fur.

She said: "This decision is a sign of changed times, as most people no longer wish to wear anything from animals who were cruelly caged, electrocuted, bludgeoned to death or caught in steel traps, left to die slowly and painfully.

"Fur today is as dead as the poor animals it was stolen from, and any designers not clued up enough to see that may as well hang up their sewing needles now."

The decision follows long-standing campaigning by PETA to convince the French designer to ditch fur.

A memorable incident occurred in 2003 when a PETA protester stormed the runway of one of his fashion shows in 2003, prompting Gaultier's assistant to throw a fur blanket over the activist.

The fashion house joins Burberry - who revealed that it would no longer manufacture animal products days before a fur-free London Fashion Week commenced - Gucci, Versace, Galliano, Armani, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Vivienne Westwood, Fendi, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney in banning fur from their clothing.


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