Valentino, animal fur
Adut Akech, Pierpaolo Piccioli, and Naomi Campbell attend The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019 in New York City.

May 18, 2021: Today, Italian luxury fashion house Valentino announced that it will no longer feature animal furs in its collections, with the goal of being entirely fur-free by 2022, per Women’s Wear DailyIn this day and age, we can justly say the idealised notion that faux fur options can’t be chic or high fashion is passé. Just look to the wardrobes of celebrities like Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, and Miley Cyrus, who have committed to ditching animal fur altogether.  

Following the likes of its luxe counterparts, Valentino plans to look at sustainable and vegan fur options as alternatives to animal fur. “Maison de Couture for us means creativity, uniqueness, intimacy, and an inclusive mindset,” chief executive officer Jacopo Venturini told WWD. “The fur-free stance is perfectly in line with the values of our company. We are moving full steam ahead in the research for alternative materials in view of a greater attention to the environment for the upcoming collections.”

Valentino, animal fur
A model walks the runway during the Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 22, 2020, in Paris, France.

The brand’s Fall-Winter 2021 show will be the last time fashion aficionados see so-called “real fur” on the runway. For context, Gucci vowed to ditch animal fur in its collections in 2018, whereas Prada recently started using faux fur, debuted as part of the label’s Spring-Summer 2020 womenswear collection. With leading retailers like Farfetch also turning their backs on animal fur, it seems like the natural next step in every fashion house’s direction.  

In addition to the news about discontinuing the use of animal fur, the Maison also revealed that the Valentino Polar fur company (which the fashion household has helmed since 2018) will cease operations by the end of the year. Additionally, the label noted that they would suspend operations of Red Valentino, which includes clothing and accessories launched in 2003 to focus on the strength of the Valentino name properly. The reason? Creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli wants to devote his full attention to Valentino. Hopefully, that means we’ll see some stellar faux fur silhouettes on the catwalk, ASAP.