Interfaith coalition urges Louis Vuitton to shed fur items

Dec 10, 2021

|Associated Press

Interfaith coalition urges Louis Vuitton to shed fur items — In this Oct. 9, 2005, file photo, a crowd gathers in front of French luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton’s landmark store on the Champs Elysees in Paris. (Credit: Jacques Brinon/AP.)

BOSTON — A group of Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish leaders is urging luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton to stop using animal fur in its clothing and other products.

In a joint statement, Orthodox Christian priest Stephen Karcher, Hindu activist Rajan Zed, Jewish rabbi ElizaBeth Webb Beyer and Buddhist priest Matthew Fisher said selling items trimmed with fur is inconsistent with the ethics and values of parent company Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

“Louis Vuitton should explore new boundaries of fur-free creative design and discontinue selling all products made from animal fur,” the clerics said Thursday, calling the trend “cruel, outdated and unnecessary.”

“Animals should not be made to suffer and killed to make fashion and glamorize bodies when there are other valid fashion alternatives at our disposition. Cruelty should never become fashionable,” they said.

Paris-based Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Zed, who is president of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism, urged LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault and other executives — as well as the fashion industry as a whole — to review the practice.