At the Business of Fashion's 2021 VOICES event in London, worldwide women’s lifestyle magazine, ELLE, announced that it will be ending the promotion of animal fur both online and in its magazines.
As described by Valéria Bessolo LLopiz, the international director of ELLE, the brand has always been ‘engaged towards environment, sustainability and ecology’ and that the use of fur within their pages and digital media is ‘no longer aligned with our values nor our readers’. The magazine wants to bring awareness for animal cruelty and animal welfare, helping to push towards a more humane fashion industry where kinder and more suitable alternatives will be used - alternatives that don’t involve the harm of animals.
The new ban will mean there will no longer be any animal fur displayed in the magazines editorials, press images, runway or street style images, and there will no longer be any depiction of animal fur in any of their pages, online or digital presence.
Commencing throughout the year 2022 and 2023, ELLE will slowly phase out the use of animal fur both in print and online, which includes 45 editions worldwide and 6.6 copies that are sold per month. They hope in doing this, that other brands and companies will follow suit and begin to make steps towards a cruelty-free future for animals within the fashion industry.
PJ Smith, director of fashion policy for the HSUS and HSI (Humane Society International), congratulated ELLE magazine by adding: “We celebrate ELLE for taking a stand against the cruel fur trade and look forward to other fashion magazines following their lead. This announcement will ignite positive change throughout the entire fashion industry and has the potential to save countless animals from a life of suffering and a cruel death. ELLE’s leadership will also drive innovation for more sustainable and humane alternatives.”