The Italian luxury fashion brand Gucci is set to forgo the use of animal fur in its products, Chief Executive Officer Marco Bizzarri announced Thursday.
At an event at the London College of Fashion, Bizzarri said the company would join the Fur Free Alliance, a worldwide animal protection alliance that advocates for fashion without fur. Gucci will stop using fur as of its 2018 summer collection.
The existing fur coats produced by Gucci, which is owned by the French fashion conglomerate Kering, will be auctioned off. The proceeds will be donated to the animal welfare organizations LAV and Humane Society International.
Luxury fashion manufacturers such as Armani and Hugo Boss have already banned fur from their collections. The president of Humane Society International described Gucci's renouncing of fur as "groundbreaking."
