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Every year, the fashion industry pays workers to violently pluck and kill millions of birds, each one a sensitive individual. Compassionate designers and kind consumers know that suffering is never in style. Today’s the day to stand with Stella McCartney—the first major luxury fashion house to go feather-free—by signing PETA’s feather-free pledge.
Why the Feather-Free Pledge Matters
Birds are sentient beings who have unique personalities and interests. Ostriches are highly social, and those in nature can live in herds of up to 100 members. Workers in the fashion industry have been videotaped ripping out the birds’ feathers while they’re still conscious, in terrible pain, and struggling to escape. A PETA investigation into the largest ostrich-slaughter companies in the world revealed that workers forced young ostriches into stun boxes and slit their throats in full view of their flockmates.
Peacocks are intelligent, curious birds who communicate with their family and flock in complex ways. Peacock farms may hold as many as 10,000 birds in crowded conditions, and sickness and injuries are common. Increasing demand from the fashion industry has spawned a black market for peacock feathers.
“Marabou” feathers sometimes seen on catwalks and red carpets are a product of the poultry industry, which confines turkeys and chickens to tiny cages or filthy, crowded sheds for their entire lives and subjects them to great suffering.
PETA entities have exposed that in the down industry, factory farms keep ducks with bloody wounds in dark, dirty sheds; workers herd geese into pens, where they’ve trampled and crushed each other while being sent to slaughter; and workers painfully rip out fistfuls of feathers, causing the birds to shriek in pain. To add insult to injury, some of the feathers obtained under these conditions were marketed as “responsible” or “humane.”
Knowing that ostriches, peacocks, turkeys, geese, and other birds suffer immensely for fashion, innovative designers like Stella McCartney are increasingly choosing animal-free materials to create showstopping looks that replicate the lightness, movement, and warmth of feathers—without the cruelty.
Are You a Designer? Sign Our Feather-Free Pledge
If you’re a designer, please commit to never using feathers in your collections. Please e-mail PETA at [email protected] if you want to sign the feather-free pledge.
Are You a Consumer? Promise Never to Buy or Wear Feathers
Birds need their feathers—we don’t. Stand with Stella McCartney and other compassionate designers who are saying “no” to cruelty: Pledge never to buy or be seen in any clothing items, accessories, or other products that contain feathers. They belong to birds and shouldn’t be stolen by humans.