Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/666022
Fashion Forward One of the biggest changes in the luxury world centers on the use of fur, as more high-end fashion houses embrace cruelty-free alternatives thanks to innovations in technology and sustainability. The fur-free movement took a significant step forward in March, when the humane society of the United states and the Fur Free alliance, a coalition of 40 animal protection groups around the world, announced that the entire armani Group would be going fur-free beginning with the Fall/Winter 2016 collections. "Technological progress made over the years allows us to have valid alternatives at our [disposal] that render the use of cruel practices unnecessary," says Giorgio Armani, who first met with Wayne Pacelle in Milan in 2009 to discuss his brand's use of fur. "Pursuing the positive process under- taken long ago, my company is now taking a major step ahead." Armani joins other leading houses that have turned away from fur, including hugo Boss, which just won the Humane Society's Henry Spira Corporate Progress Award for its commitment to innovative, animal- friendly materials, and stella McCartney, the first and only luxury brand to be completely vegan, avoiding leathers, skins, and feathers, as well as fur. Other big-name designers to go fur-free include ralph Lauren, Tommy hilfiger, and Calvin Klein—and the ranks are growing.