Compassion in Fashion at Sustainable Fur-Free Fashion Festival in Shanghai
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FROM ACTAsia.org
November 2019

ACTAsia hosted a series of three Fur-Free fashion events on 17 October to promote awareness of responsible, sustainable fashion around the world. More than 800 press attended.

Three events – a Fur-Free Forum, Fashion Show and Caring for Life Gala Dinner – came together to consider, showcase and celebrate the theme of Compassion in Fashion, and to reflect on the work of ACTAsia’s wider Caring for Life Education programme.

The event united leading international figures from the world of fashion, providing a forum for discussion on sustainable and fur-free fashion from three main angles: education, fashion business practice and consumption trends. It also explored the curriculum on sustainable fur-free fashion soon to be launched jointly by collaborators London College of Fashion and ACTAsia.

To follow the Forum for discussion, a pioneering Fashion Show featured Chinese celebrities and socialites of all shapes and sizes, instead of professional models.

The show promoted four internationally acclaimed brands: Vaute, USA, the first vegan brand to make New York Fashion Week; the ecological Polish brand Fold Design which excludes the use of fur and leather; Ivana Helskinki, whose Finish brand is based on a love of nature and animals; and Unreal Fur, an Australian faux fur label with a mission to end the use of real fur by the fashion industry.

To conclude the evening, a Gala Dinner took place to promote ACTAsia’s Caring for Life programme, welcoming four new Chinese brands to the Fur Free Retailer scheme, and celebrating Caring for Life achievements among the guests.

Cathryn Wills is creator of Australian vega fashion brand SANS BEAST. Wills will address the Forum and donate a design for auction at the Gala event. “Challenging the use of animals in fashion is necessary, for both the environment and a more ethical approach to life on the planet. I believe it’s possible to make a beautiful handbag or piece of clothing, without exploiting animals or robbing the planet of precious resources.”

China is the central hub of the global fur trade. China’s fur factory farms produce the largest number of fur-bearing aimals inthe world, it processes the highest quantity of pelts into garments, and has the biggest market for fur clothing. Hundreds of millions of animals are farmed for fur in China every year.

You can read ACTAsia’s recent report China’s fur trade and its position in the global fur industry here: China’s fur trade and its position in the global fur industry (PDF)

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