Belstaff joins the list of fashion houses to ban fur

British luxury house Belstaff has become the latest big name to join the list of brands and designers to ban real fur from their collections.

The house, which was acquired by Ineos from JAB Holdings last autumn and is best known for its motorcycle jackets, has vowed that from January 2019 no fur will be present in its collections or stores. Its move follows a meeting with PETA in which it learnt how coyotes and other animals are trapped and killed for fur trim.

“Today’s luxury-product consumers want nothing to do with the cruel and un-British fur industry which catches animals in barbaric, bone-crushing steel-jaw traps, where they can languish for days before they eventually die from hunger, thirst, blood loss, or predator attacks or are bludgeoned to death by returning trappers,” says PETA Director of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor.

“PETA commends Belstaff CEO Helen Wright for doing the right thing for animals and consumers by ushering in a modern, compassionate no-fur policy," Taylor added.

Fur farming has been banned in the UK since 2000 however the country still allows the import of a number of furs – fox, rabbit, mink, coyote, racoon dog, and chinchilla – through domestic cat and dog and seal skin derived from commercial hunts are banned.

Anti-fur demonstrators outside Parliament during last month's debate

MPs debated last month whether to impose a full ban on fur imports, which was met with strong support from all parties, however the government has yet to commit to such action.

Belstaff joins a long line of designers to ban fur including Versace, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith and Furla. Fellow British luxury house Burberry says it is no longer showing fur on its catwalks and is considering a full ban.

PETA recently carried out a poll which found that 95% of London Fashion Week designers were now fur free.