5
Jun
A Heated Discussion with Burberry at London College of Fashion
- posted at 8:40 AM
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- Comments (14)
When companies that deal in dead animal skins don’t listen to what we have to say, we need to think of new ways to approach them. Executives and bigwigs at Burberry have been shunning our anti-fur message for years, so it was time to get a little up close and personal.
Tuesday night, PETA US VP Bruce Friedrich (who’s in the UK for a short while) confronted Burberry designer Christopher Bailey at a London College of Fashion discussion on menswear. Also at the event – and at the receiving end of Bruce and Christopher’s rather heated discussion – were fashion journalists Colin McDowell and Jeremy Langmead, and more than 200 students. Some members of the audience even blogged about the exchange of words when they got home.
It went a little something like this:
“Event started at 6 p.m. It was “a discussion” about men’s fashion moderated by Colin McDowell of the Sunday Times. After about 30 minutes of talk about trends, I raised my hand:
· Mr. McDowell said, “Oh good, a question! Yes. Oh and you’re prepared, you have notes! Please wait for the microphone so that everyone can hear you”
· Me: Do you mind if I take the discussion in a slightly different direction?
· McDowell: No no, please do!
· Me (reviewing my notes, which is how I know exactly what I said—I had the microphone and spoke very slowly): I have a question for Mr. Bailey about morality in fashion. [Bailey starts to look nervous]. Specifically, fur farming is so cruel to animals that it is illegal in the UK and many other countries, yet you continue to put it into Burberry’s collections. Animals are anally and vaginally electrocuted and skinned alive [gasps], and you seem not to care at all. Is there any abuse of animals so hideous that you would object?
· Bailey: I would be happy to have that discussion with you, but not here.
· McDowell (blustering, livid, bursts out): Now I have a question for you—What gives you the right to come in here, what relevance does that question have to the issue of men’s fashion. Take his microphone away!
· Me: Well you asked me a question, so please do me the courtesy of hearing my answer. [he looked like “oh shit, well that was stupid of me”] What Christopher Bailey pays people do to do to animals on some of the worst fur farms you can imagine, would put him in jail for cruelty to animals if he were paying people to do it to dogs or cats. The fur industry is a violent bloody industry that skins animals alive and crams them into crates where they go insane, and he supports it. Every time and everyplace is appropriate for this discussion.
· McDowell: Well he says he’ll talk w/you about it later. This is not the time.
· Me: He told us that before and then he didn’t return our calls or reply to our letters.
· McDowell: You have made your point. You’ve done what you came here to do. You are welcome to stay or go, but we will not be discussion this issue at this forum. [thunderous applause, though til this point, you could hear a pin drop].
· About 10 minutes later I walked up and slipped Bailey one of our Burberry leaflets and a note that read, “Please make good on your promise this time. You told us you’d meet with us before; this time please call” and gave him my contact info. McDowell looked very concerned as I walked up.
· When they finished up, I was able to go up and have a very heated exchange with him, our faces about 5 inches apart, in front of the line of people who had come for his autograph.
· Me: I hope you will meet with us; I think if you saw these fur farms, if you really understood the horrible abuse of animals involved in the fur industry, you’d agree to stop designing with this cruel material.
· Bailey (moving in and putting his face about 5 inches from mine - very angry and intense): What gives you the right to come in here and hijack this event and take over everything and disrupt it and ruin this event? This is not the place for this discussion.
· Me: You told us you’d meet with us and then you backed out. I hope you will call or email me to set up a meeting; you are supporting horrible cruelty.
· Bailey: I have to talk with other people. You have no style [yes, he actually said “you have no style”; maybe he meant “class”?]
It was pretty bizarre - everyone on line for an autograph from Bailey took a Burberry leaflet from me (including Bailey and his handler and Jeremy Langmead, the editor of Esquire, who was sharing the stage with him).”
This is the reponse I had from Burberry after my e-mail asking them to stop selling fur…very interesting … they refer to fur as “natural hides” …
Dear Madam
Thank you for your feedback regarding Burberry’s use of natural hides.
By way of background Burberry is an international luxury brand producing apparel and accessories with a distinct British sensibility for over 150 years. During this time and as a company with a strong outerwear heritage, there has been and will continue to be limited occasions where the use of natural hides will be considered important to meet consumer tastes and demand.
Burberry believes that any materials sourced from animals should be produced without inflicting cruelty or threatening the environment. We will not use natural hides if there is any concern that they have been produced by the unacceptable treatment of the animals. For this reason we do not source such materials from China.
We source natural hides very carefully safeguarding the correct ethical standards and traceability. We principally source fur from SAGA furs in Finland who are well known for upholding high standards of ethical treatment of animals and share our concerns about animal welfare. Consistent with this approach the farms which supply fur are open to third-party inspections at any time.
We do understand your concern on this understandably emotive subject particularly given the inaccurate statements and images that are used in connection with Burberry’s use of natural hides. So thank you for taking the time to contact us on this subject and giving us the opportunity to reply
Customer Services
Burberry Ltd
157-167 Regent St, London
W1B 4PH
Tel: +44 (0) 7000 785676
Fax:+44 (0) 7000 785677