Animal rights group urges Kate Moss to ditch fur after Saint Laurent decision

A leading animal rights organisation has written to Kate Moss urging her to give up wearing fur after luxury French fashion brand Saint Laurent announced it would stop using the material.

Parent company Kering last week announced it will stop using animal fur in all its collections, its decision coming four years after its flagship label Gucci made a similar commitment.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said it had sent a letter to Moss, 47, claiming her “only hope of staying relevant in today’s fur-free fashion world” would be to follow suit.

The group is also retiring the use of a poster targeting the model and brand – showing Moss in a campaign for Saint Laurent apparently wearing a fox fur coat alongside an image of an injured fox on a fur farm and the words, “Who wore it best?”

Peta vice-president of international programmes Mimi Bekhechi said: “Young people today don’t want to buy clothing made from the skins of animals who suffered in filthy, cramped cages for their entire miserable lives.

“Peta would be happy to help Kate swear off fur by taking her old coats off her hands.”

The decision to end all fur use at Kering fashion houses was announced on Friday via a statement from chairman and chief executive Francois-Henri Pinault.

He said: “For many years, Kering has sought to take the lead in sustainability, guided by a vision of luxury that is inseparable from the very highest environmental and social values and standards.

“When it comes to animal welfare, our Group has always demonstrated its willingness to improve practices within its own supply chain and the luxury sector in general.

“The time has now come to take a further step forward by ending the use of fur in all our collections.

“The world has changed, along with our clients, and luxury naturally needs to adapt to that.”

Mariah Carey, Kim Cattrall and Anjelica Huston are among the famous names who have donated fur clothing to Peta’s amnesty programme, which reuses items in educational displays and sends them to wildlife sanctuaries to be used as bedding for orphaned animals.

Moss has been contacted for comment.