The Council of Fashion Designers of America announced on Wednesday that it will cease to promote animal fur at all Official New York Fashion Week Schedule events, and across its website and social media channels. The decision was made in collaboration with the nonprofit organisations Humane World for Animals and Collective Fashion Justice.
“By taking this position, the CFDA hopes to inspire American designers to think more deeply about the fashion industry’s impact on animals,” said Steven Kolb, president and chief executive of the CFDA. “Consumers are moving away from products associated with animal cruelty, and we want to position American fashion as a leader on those fronts, while also driving material innovation.”
In practice, the ban will forbid the use of exotic skins from animals slain specifically for their coats from all collections on the official NYFW circuit. It is set to take effect in September 2026 to provide fashion houses with time to adjust their materials accordingly, and will not apply to pelts obtained by Indigenous communities using traditional hunting practices.
The CFDA will offer educational materials and a textile library to designers to help support them through the transition.
With the move, New York Fashion Week becomes the second major fashion week to terminate its use of animal hides, following the British Fashion Council-operated London Fashion Week’s decision to do so in 2023. In October, Condé Nast publicised its ban on the use of new animal fur from most of its editorial and advertising content across its publications, including Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair, following months of mounting pressure from aggressive grassroots activist campaigns. Several major luxury brands, including Prada, Burberry and all the labels in Kering’s portfolio, have also eliminated fur from their own products.
Learn more:
Big Brands Banned Fur. Why Is It Back on the Runway?
The luxury sector is turning to a roster of alternatives, from synthetics to styling tricks and innovation to tap into a resurgence in consumer appetite for fluffy fashions.
