PETA’s Campaign Urging LVMH to Drop Wildlife Skins

PETA is urging LVMH to stop using skin taken from snakes, crocodiles, alligators, or other animals in its collections. See our latest actions below, and send LVMH a message!

Update (16 April 2025): LVMH Faces Pressure From PETA US at Shareholder Meeting Over Fur and Wild-Animal Skin Sales
“When will LVMH use truly creative, innovative, and harmless materials; stop supporting extreme cruelty; and end dependence on the disgusting fur and wild-skins trade?” That’s the question that PETA US – which owns stock in the company – has asked CEO Bernard Arnault to address at the annual meeting on 17 April.

The full text of PETA US’ shareholder question follows:

In a world where fashion, ethics, and sustainability are increasingly intertwined, LVMH remains an outlier by still using fur and wild-animal skins.

Fendi and Dior have access to the most beautiful bio-based vegan furs, yet they still condemn minks, foxes, and other wild animals to be confined to cramped cages on fur factory farms, stressed and turning in circles before being gassed, bludgeoned, or electrocuted. Berluti and Louis Vuitton have the finest embossed plant leathers at their fingertips yet our company continues to use the skins of snakes who were beaten with hammers and cut open with razor blades while they were likely still alive and of crocodiles who were raised in filthy pits in their own waste and who are often killed with metal rods that are rammed down their spines. These animals feel pain and fear just as we do, Monsieur Arnaut, and they are often alive as the skin is peeled from their bodies.

Will you go to your grave being known for never having the slightest understanding, empathy, or respect for wildlife? Our company is looking out of touch. Despite Sir David Attenborough’s documentaries and all that people now know about the wonders of wildlife, LVMH is still cutting them up for bags—and the world will condemn us for that. When will our company use truly creative, innovative, and harmless materials; stop supporting extreme cruelty; and end dependence on the disgusting fur and wild-skins trade?

Update (3 September 2024): Artists Create; LVMH Kills – Gallery Disrupted Over Snake Abuse
An activist held a sign reading, “Artists create. LVMH kills,” as five “bloodied” PETA supporters dressed in “snakeskin” lay sprawled across the LVMH Great Room in The Courtauld Gallery at London’s iconic Somerset House, holding a “die-in” to protest against fashion house LVMH’s continued use of wild-animal skins in its collections.

Update (25 June 2024): LVMH Speech Disrupted by ‘Snake’
In the latest action during a public appearance of a company representative, a PETA supporter interrupted LVMH Environmental Development Director Hélène Valade’s remarks during the “Future of Luxury” seminar at the Future Fabrics Expo 2024. The “snake” called out the company – which is the main sponsor of the expo and the owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fendi – for selling products made from the skin of tormented snakes, crocodiles, and other animals. Dressed from head to toe in a “snakeskin” ensemble, the animal defender held up signs reading, “LVMH: Reptiles Are NOT Fabric!” before being removed by security.

https://twitter.com/PETAUK/status/1805912655229509779?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Original post (18 April 2024):
PETA supporters were arrested after the LVMH annual meeting for slamming the company – which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fendi – for supporting extreme cruelty by selling merchandise made from the skin of tormented animals.

BREAKING: PETA supporters were ARRESTED after the @LVMH annual meeting for slamming the company – which owns @LouisVuitton, @Dior, and @Fendi – over its use of exotic skins. pic.twitter.com/Pz3U9KfIPo

— PETA UK (@PETAUK) April 18, 2024

Who Are You Wearing – Dior or a Slaughtered Snake?

Every fur trim, crocodile handbag, or pair of snakeskin shoes represents the tremendous suffering of a vulnerable animal who felt fear and pain and did not want to die. For proof, keep reading.

A PETA Asia investigation into slaughterhouses in Indonesia that supply LVMH shows snakes being inflated with water, bashed with hammers, and cut with razors while they were likely still conscious.

PETA entities have also documented how in the fashion industry, workers hack at crocodiles’ necks and shove metal rods down their spines, chop off conscious lizards’ heads with machetes, and electrically stun ostriches before slitting their throats in full view of their terrified flock mates. Animals raised and killed for fur are held in cramped, filthy cages before they’re electrocuted, bludgeoned, gassed, or even skinned alive.

LVMH Is Lagging Behind

Many other major designers, such as Mulberry, Victoria Beckham, Chanel, Burberry, Diane von Furstenberg, and Vivienne Westwood, have already banned the use of the skin of reptiles or other wildlife, and nearly all top luxury fashion houses have banned fur.

How You Can Help

PETA is calling on LVMH to cut cruelty from its collections and end its shameful sale of exotic skins, fur, and other animal skins. You can join the campaign by sending LVMH’s CEO a message now: