Activists protest against Hermès in Hazmat suits and high heels

PETA activists denouncing the brutality of the exotic leather industry took to the streets outside Hermès’ flagship store in New York on Madison Avenue, just a day after the showdown at the company’s annual shareholders meeting. In a vivid visual demonstration, PETA supporters donned gas masks, protective suits and high-heeled shoes, and carried ‘wallets’ emblazoned with a bold message:Prevent Pandemics: Ban exotic skins.“

What does PETA think? A sustainable and ethical business model simply cannot involve breeding, keeping, killing and processing tens of thousands of intelligent crocodiles, alligators and ostriches every year.

While PETA is delighted that Hermès has begun to follow the lead of other designers by introducing more animal-friendly materials such as mushroom skins, we will continue to urge the company to ban exotic skins and immediately abandon plans to build what could become Australian. the largest crocodile factory, which contains up to 50,000 animals.

Environmental and health experts including the United Nations and the World Health Organization have highlighted humanity’s severed relationship with nature and warned that the next pandemic could come from the fashion industry. Keeping sick and stressed wildlife close to each other increases the risk of zoonoses. Like the wet market that gave birth to COVID-19, these farms provide a breeding ground for pathogens such as Salmonella, Colibacillusand West Nile virus, all of which have been found to be carried by crocodiles and can be transmitted to humans.

PETA’s Internal Efforts: Shareholder Engagement at Hermès AGM

Yesterday during the annual meeting of the company PETA – a shareholder of Hermès – planned to persuade her to abandon the skins of alligators, crocodiles, ostriches and all other exotic animals.

Our simple question was: When will Hermès join Chanel, Jil Sander, Vivienne Westwood and others and ban the use of exotic leather in their collections? The leaders refused to answer our question, so we called in reinforcements in protective suits and high heels for today’s protest.

PETA first became a shareholder in Hermès in 2015, after it published an investigation into crocodile and alligator farms in Zimbabwe and Texas that revealed the appalling conditions in which the animals were raised and killed before their skins were shipped to Hermes-owned tanners. In 2016, we published shocking footage of an ostrich leather supplier for Hermès.

Act for the animals!

Please speak up for crocodiles, curious and sensitive animals who just want to be left alone so they can swim freely, build nests and protect their young. Denying them and other animals their freedom supports specialism, and we need your help to end this. Using your phone or computer only takes a minute, so what are you waiting for?

Call on Hermès to ban exotic skins