PETA to Donatella Versace: ‘Wool is As Cruel as Fur’

01.04.2025

Milan – As fashion icon Donatella Versace judges the 2025 International Woolmark Prize in Milan, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have rushed a letter to the designer, reminding her of her 2018 declaration that she did not wish to harm animals for fashion – signalling her ban on fur. With the message that wool is just as abusive, PETA’s letter urges Donatella Versace to reconsider her support of the industry.

“Global investigations into the industry show that wool production is every bit as cruel as fur,” says PETA Vice President of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor. “Designers worldwide look up to Donatella – she has the chance to once again be a leader in compassionate fashion by choosing conscious, cruelty-free plant wools.”

Sheep grow depressed if isolated from their flock and can even detect anxiety in another sheep simply by observing their face. Farmers commonly sever lambs’ tails and castrate the males without pain relief. PETA entities’ exposés of wool operations around the world found routine cruelty to sheep, who were beaten, punched, kicked, thrown, and slammed to the ground by workers. Because shearers are usually paid by volume, not by the hour, they’re incentivised to work quickly and often leave sheep with gaping, open wounds sewn shut with no pain relief.

Sheep are second only to cows in the global production of methane, which is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the Earth. The wool industry also produces massive amounts of faecal waste and contributes to soil erosion and desertification of ecosystems.

PETA’s letter to Donatella Versace is available here.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]

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