Top Irish Designer Helen McAliden Announces she Will go Fur-Free

For Immediate Release:
22 December 2016

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

IRISH DESIGNER HELEN MCALINDEN MAKES COMPASSIONATE DECISION TO GO FUR-FREE

Sought-After Designer Learned From PETA That Animals Suffer for Fur

Belfast – After hearing from PETA that animals suffer for fur garments, award-winning Irish designer Helen McAlinden announced, “We can now confirm that our company is committed to a no fur policy”. She has won many awards, including the Irish Tatler Designer of the Year Award in 2010, and has five stores in Ireland. Her no-fur policy brings her in line with other top designers, including Stella McCartney, Giorgio Armani, Vivienne Westwood, and Calvin Klein.

PETA sent McAlinden this video exposé of the fur industry, along with a letter explaining that in China, the world’s largest exporter of fur, investigators have documented that workers bludgeon animals before skinning them alive. The group also noted that animals on fur farms in Europe don’t fare any better, as they spend their lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages before finally being electrocuted or gassed.

“Real fur looks good only on the animals who were born with it”, says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “Helen McAlinden’s compassionate decision to stop using the material will save countless animals’ lives, and PETA is calling on any designer who is still using the remains of tortured beings to realise that the future of fashion lies in kindness, not cruelty.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – urges all shoppers to go fur-free and instead choose from among the many high-tech, plush vegan fabrics available on the high street.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk

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