PETA and Lucy Watson Launch Vegan Handbag Design Competition

For Immediate Release:
25 April 2017

Contact:
Olivia Jordan +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 229; [email protected]

PETA AND LUCY WATSON LAUNCH VEGAN HANDBAG DESIGN COMPETITION

Contest With British Brand Wilby Calls On Compassionate Designers to Create Cruelty-Free Vegan Bag

London – PETA is teaming up with model and animal rights supporter Lucy Watson as well as trendy, eco-friendly accessories brand Wilby to launch a contest to find the new vegan “It bag”. Entry is now open, and aspiring designers are encouraged to submit their creations via PETA’s website. Watson will choose the winning design, which will then be produced and sold by Wilby.

“More and more, those in the fashion industry are moving away from animal skins and experimenting with sustainable, vegan materials”, says Watson. “This competition offers young designers a chance to be a part of the trend towards compassionate fashion – it’s all very exciting!”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – notes that many animals killed for leather endure castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning without painkillers before finally being skinned and dismembered alive – as shown in Stella McCartney’s shocking video exposé of the leather industry. In addition, the global skins trade is notorious for harming the environment, from the methane emissions produced by cattle to the toxic tannery chemicals that pollute nearby water supplies.

Recent innovations in plant-based fabrics include polyurethane, cork, waxed cotton, Piñatex (derived from pineapple leaves), and MuSkin (extracted from mushroom caps).

Most Wilby bags are made in the UK and in accordance with the company’s motto: Mahatma Gandhi’s famous saying, “There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness”.

For more information and to enter the contest, please click here or visit PETA.org.uk.

#