Duchess of Cambridge’s Earth-Friendly, Vegan Birthday Gift? An Apple-Leather Bag

For Immediate Release:

8 January 2020

Contact:

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

DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE’S EARTH-FRIENDLY, VEGAN BIRTHDAY GIFT? AN APPLE-LEATHER BAG

PETA Presents Royal With Award-Winning Handbag

London – In honour of the Duchess of Cambridge’s birthday on 9 January, PETA is sending her a bag from French eco-fashion brand Ashoka, one of the winners of the 2019 PETA Fashion Awards for its planet-friendly accessories. The gift follows the launch of the Earthshot Prize, the initiative by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to encourage finding solutions to the climate crisis – an urgent problem that the animal-leather industry is a big contributor to.

The bag is made from apple leather – an eco-friendly, 100% vegan material made from apple skins. This innovative fabric, which is created by recycling food waste, has a much lower environmental impact than animal leather.

“Vegan accessories in materials like apple leather are kinder to the planet and animals,” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “PETA hopes the gift will encourage the Duchess make conscious, animal-friendly choices in her wardrobe – and her many admirers to do the same.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – notes that cows killed for leather endure castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning, all without painkillers, before being skinned and dismembered, sometimes while they’re still alive. In addition, the leather industry has a devastating impact on the Earth, from the carbon emissions produced by raising animals to the toxic tanneries that pollute nearby water supplies and expose workers to excessive amounts of chemicals, including arsenic. Industry reports have found leather to be the most polluting material in the fashion industry.

PETA’s previous notable birthday gifts to members of the royal family and other key figures include a vegan wool coat for the Duchess of Cambridge, a wool-free cardigan for royal baby Archie, and a pair of faux-leather shoes for former Prime Minister Theresa May.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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