a few days ago, the french high-end fashion brand chanel publicly stated that it will no longer use rare animal leather in its products in the future. the banned list includes rare animal leathers such as crocodiles, lizards, snakes and stingrays. pavlovski, president of the company’s global boutique division, said it is increasingly difficult to obtain rare furs that meet the brand’s quality requirements and meet ethical standards.
in fact, earlier this year, luxury brands such as burberry, gucci, versace and fulla announced that they would stop using animal fur in their products. of course, in addition to the above luxury brands, hundreds of fashion brands have announced their abandonment of fur in recent years. regardless of whether these brands are out of cost control or purely for the purpose of protecting animals, this move symbolizes a sea change in the fashion circle. moreover, with the popularization of animal protection and humanitarianism, the mentality of consumers has also changed. in particular, young consumers are no longer as fond of animal fur as they used to be, and new consumption choices are quietly forming.
at the same time, a new buzzword came into being, “vegan leather”, in fact, vegan means pure vegetarian. interestingly, the word “vegan leather” formed after combining with leather means leather or other materials that do not use animal products or by-products at all. “plain leather” materials usually include polyvinyl chloride/pvc, polyurethane/pu and other artificial leather materials.
compared with pvc materials, pu materials are more resistant to high temperature and have a longer service life. at the same time, compared with pvc leather, pu leather is softer and feels closer to genuine leather. if pvc leather wants to achieve a certain degree of softness, a certain amount of plasticizer must be added. however, the addition of a large amount of plasticizer does not meet the requirements of environmental protection. at present, “polyvinyl chloride (pvc) ordinary artificial leather production line” is included in the national “industrial structure adjustment guidance catalog” restricted development projects, but pu leather is gradually encouraged and supported by the national industrial policy, and it replaces natural leather and pvc artificial leather. market. matt&natt, a montreal brand that promotes “vegan leather” material accessories, once declared that “pu is less harmful to the environment than pvc. as long as possible, its use is definitely the first choice.”
the withdrawal of various fashion brands from the animal fur products market may be caused by the so-called “political correctness” trend of animal protection, the change of consumer preferences, or the consideration of their own costs; but market changes are inevitable.
