Max Mara urged to drop cruel fur in largest global anti-fur campaign as London Fashion Week gets underway

Animal organisations unite to call on Max Mara to go fur-free

16.2.2024

On the opening day of London Fashion Week, Britain’s compassionate consumers are being asked to take part in the largest ever global anti-fur consumer campaign being launched to urge fashion house Max Mara to go fur-free.

The campaign is headed by the Fur Free Alliance, comprising organisations in more than 35 countries. Campaigners are asking their millions of supporters and compassionate citizens from the United Kingdom and across the world to target Max Mara’s phone lines, email and social media urging the design house to drop fur because it is cruel, outdated and has no place in a modern society.

To launch the campaign in the UK, FOUR PAWS UK, Humane Society International and Respect for Animals (UK members of the Fur Free Alliance) today held a peaceful demonstration outside Max Mara’s store on London’s Old Bond Street, calling on the global brand to stop selling fur. A campaigner dressed as a fox sat inside a cage for the entirety of the event, highlighting the cruel reality of fur farming to passersby. Photos from the demonstration can be downloaded here.

Max Mara, which has 2,500+ stores in 105 countries―of which four are in the UK―is one of the last major fur users and its current range includes items made of fox, raccoon dog and mink fur. Max Mara fur products available in the UK include fox fur cuffs, a mink trimmed hood, a fox fur trimmed hood and mink mittens, and product labels show the company uses mink fur from China plus fox and raccoon dog fur from Finland.

Max Mara’s use of fur is increasingly out of mode. Most of the world’s major fashion houses have already gone fur-free including Dolce & Gabbana, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Prada, Gucci, Versace, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga and Jimmy Choo. Many other designers have long-standing policies against using fur, including Hugo Boss, Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood.

“The trade in fur is cruel and unnecessary and should be universally condemned as the abhorrent practice that it is. That’s why FOUR PAWS UK, along with our sector partners, are calling on global brand Max Mara to ditch its dirty trade in fur and align with so many major fashion brands who have long since called time on barbaric fur farming.
Max Mara has a real opportunity now to show that it is listening to consumers who urge them to go fur-free. As well as being the right thing to do, the brand could also demonstrate that it takes its customers' feedback seriously, and that it is willing to acknowledge that it is out of step with public opinion.
Fur farms were banned in the UK 20 years ago, and fur fashion is long past its sell by date. Now, around the world, compassionate consumers are saying a big global no to fur - it’s time Max Mara listened to those calls, heard them, and acted. We hope they will.”

Sonul Badiani-Hamment, Country Director, FOUR PAWS UK

Millions of animals die each year in the global fur trade

Tens of millions of animals suffer and die each year in the global fur trade. The majority of the animals killed for fur are reared in barren battery cages on fur farms.

Despite banning fur farming in 2003, the UK still imports and sells fur

Despite banning fur farming in 2003 on moral grounds, the UK still imports and sells fur from countries including Finland and China, a double standard we want to see end. HMRC data shows that in 2022 the UK imported £41,970,308 of fur.

93% of Brits don’t wear fur

A YouGov poll shows that 93% of Brits don’t wear fur and 77% support a sales ban.

Mink on more than 480 fur farms have been found infected with COVID-19

Mink on more than 480 fur farms across 13 countries have been found infected with COVID-19, and fur farms in Spain and Finland have had outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1). The potential for zoonotic disease spread on fur farms has been acknowledged by the World Health Organization and leading virologists have recently warned governments to “consider the mounting evidence suggesting fur farming be eliminated in the interest of pandemic preparedness”.