In February of this year, Milan Fashion Week welcomed Visa as an official sponsor of the event. Just two months later, the company has officially withdrawn its support for the event as a result of its permissiveness in the use of fur by some of the big luxury brands. It joins DHL and Wella on the list of brands that have cut ties with the international meeting.
The Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT) announced this in a statement, noting that Visa’s communications area for Europe conveyed this to them in an email sent on April 13. “Visa has ended its sponsorship of Milan Fashion Week“, they claim that they explained from the company.
Visa has been the subject of the coalition’s global protest campaign since early this year to promote the industry’s move away from fur. “CAFT has decided to target fashion shows to prevent emblematic brands of the fur industry such as Fendi, Loro Piana and Philipp Plein from promoting fur on the most important stages.“, they explained then. “These brands, along with a few others that continue to show fur, present their collections during Milan Fashion Week”.
They also pointed out the contradiction on the part of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), the organizing entity of Milan Fashion Week, regarding its environmental commitments. “CNMI claims to care about sustainability; It even organizes the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards and maintains a working group on animal welfare“, they commented. “However, it is ironic that Fendi and Loro Piana, some of the most aggressive brands in the fur industry, have representatives on their Sustainability Working Group. If the CNMI continues to allow the use of fur on the catwalks, glorifying and normalizing them, their supposed commitments to sustainability and animal welfare will be nothing more than eco-whitewashing.”.
In this sense, over the last few weeks, the coalition has carried out up to 13 protests at several of Visa’s headquarters, as well as demonstrations in front of the homes of some of its executives in London, Munich, New Jersey, New York, Wellesley, Miami, Atlanta or. San Francisco, In them the activists have made it clear that all those affiliated with Milan Fashion Week are complicit.
“We congratulate Visa for making the right decision to sever ties with Milan Fashion Week and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. Three major sponsors have dropped out rather than partner with cruel and outdated skins“; commented Suzie Stork, Executive Director of CAFT, in a statement. “The message is unmistakable. Milan Fashion Week’s refusal to do without fur represents a risk, and the business world knows it”.
The coalition assures that protests directed at the rest of the sponsors of Milan Fashion Week will continue internationally to increase pressure until it adopts a fur-free policy. They maintain that corporate sponsorship of fashion events in which fur is still used supports and finances the fur industry.
In addition to putting pressure on sponsors, activists have also protested against the use of fur to Carlo Capasa, President of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, recently interrupting him at a talk at Bocconi University, as well as at a panel during the European Fashion Designers Summit in Barcelona on April 13.
On the other hand, the coalition maintains protest campaigns against other brands, whether or not associated with the fashion industry. According to their social profiles, the activists are putting pressure on the Porsche automobile company, the Marriott hotel chain, the Louis Vuitton luxury brand, or the Barclays financial institution for their business with the MBR Acres hatchery. It also claims to have carried out a 58-day campaign in 17 different cities with 50 protests against Etsy and its affiliates, which has resulted in the marketplace’s decision not to sell fur from foxes, minks, rabbits, coyotes and other animals starting next August.
