Is Chanel Going on the Vegan Diet?

The timeless luxury Parisian brand is waving goodbye to exotic animal skins. Animal activist groups are praising such a renowned brand for going eco and animal friendly, the first of its kind stepping into the realm of "ethical fashion."

Just a few days ago, the head of Chanel's fashion, Bruno Pavlovsky, made the big announcement stating that they "would no longer use exotic skins in [their] future creations." The decision was made to stop the production of merchandise made of these skins due to the company finding it increasingly difficult to get materials that were both high in quality and ethically sourced.

In recent years leading up to this big announcement, Chanel had already started cutting back on using fur in their products. Fortunately, after so many campaigns warning about animal endangerment, Chanel is one of the handful of the big name brands to renounce fur, but the first to ban exotic skins. In their tweet, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) implied that brands still sourcing skins for their products are living in the stone age.

When thinking about fashion, environmental economics isn't normally the first thing that comes to mind when cruising through the isles of your favorite store. As issues such as animal cruelty and endangerment are gaining traction in the news and public eye, even being endorsed by influencers and celebrities, people are actually starting to listen.

PETA releasing their well known, I'd rather go naked than wear fur campaign in the early 2000s got a lot of attention because of it's heavy endorsed by celebrities. It created a very slow ut substantial snowball effect. The impacts that PETA and organizations of the same nature may seem insignificant but when looking at the big picture, the changes that have been made just in the last 20 years alone are remarkable.

Just within the last few years, our favorite celebrities and influencers have switched over to a vegan lifestyle. Whether it be for health or cruelty reasons, brands need to keep up with our evolving society to stay relevant. Chanel is doing just that.

Transitioning to a vegan lifestyle goes beyond your food intake but rather impacts your consumer behavior as a whole. That being said, the more people turning to veganism, companies still using fur and animal skin will see a decline in their demographic.

Now I'm not saying that Chanel is ridding their company of exotic skins and furs to gain publicity and create a broader market for their products, but it certainly helps. Being such a well known and influential company, it's exciting to see the impact it will have on the fashion industry in terms of ethics and cruelty.

Read more about Chanel's decision to ban exotic animal skins here.