Baku, November 30, AZERTAC

London Fashion Week (LFW) is banning the use of exotic skins such as crocodile and snake in show collections — making it the first of the ‘big four’ to do so, according to Vogue Business.

The British Fashion Council’s (BFC) deputy director of policy and engagement, David Leigh-Pemberton, announced the ban this week in a speech to parliament, extending its ban on fur use, which was implemented last year.

LFW designers — many of which are smaller and less established than the luxury giants showing in Paris and Milan — tend not to use exotic skins in their collections anyway, but the move is still significant. London is following in the footsteps of Copenhagen Fashion Week, which banned exotic skins and feathers in March (Copenhagen had also previously implemented a fur ban in 2022).

The industry has widely shifted away from fur, with large brands, from Gucci to Chanel, putting bans in place. However, fashion remains divided over the use of exotic skins, which are rarer and seen by many to epitomise luxury. Chanel was an early mover, banning exotics in 2018. Marc Jacobs was one of the most recent brands to implement a ban in May 2024. (Though notably, neither of these is known for exotic skin handbags.) Meanwhile, Kering, which has a ban on fur, still uses exotic skins, as does Prada. Hermés and LVMH have neither a ban on fur nor exotic skins.

Some sustainability advocates argue that snakeskin products can be good for the environment if that particular breed is considered an invasive species. Earlier this week, British Vogue spoke to Gabriela Hearst about the introduction of python leather in her Spring/Summer 2025 collection, sourced from Florida-based materials company Inversa. Italian sneaker brand P448 also uses the skin of the Burmese python in its sneakers.

However, the BFC’s ban comes amid growing pressure from animal rights activists. Peta has been protesting at fashion weeks, crashing the runway shows of brands that use leather, exotic skin and fur. “Tens of thousands of Peta supporters contacted the BFC, calling for this progressive move,” Peta VP of corporate projects Yvonne Taylor said in a statement. “We salute the compassionate British designers who helped usher in this policy.”