Fur is a non-essential luxury item. It is one of the least consumer-supported animal derived materials and there is a strong worldwide opposition to fur sales. The publics long-standing opposition to fur farming and the changed ethical perception of animals have led an increasing number of countries to legislate against fur farming and have also led to a plethora of fur-free businesses in recent years.

Over the past years an increasing number of fashion houses stepped away from using real fur. This trend is not only evident in well-known large department stores and high street brands, but fortunately also in the luxury segment. Iconic names such as Armani, Burberry, Gucci, Prada and Versace are fur-free for several years now. In the past few years also Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Canada Goose, Carolina Herrera, Dolce & Gabbana, Moncler, Max Mara, Oscar de la Renta, Saint Laurent and Valentino made the change! And on top of this, end of 2021 the international fashion magazine Elle pledged to go fur-free. This applies to all 45 editions worldwide and means that the magazine will no longer show editorial content  promoting animal fur on its pages, images and online channels. This also applies to advertisements placed with Elle.

The shift towards fur free fashion with more and more designers turning their backs on the fur industry is also reflected in the declining fur production figures. The numbers plummeted even further due to devastating COVID-19 and avian influenza outbreaks on fur farms, and the realisation that fur farming poses an enormous health risk to humans. The worldwide number of animals killed on fur farms steadily decreased from around 95 million in 2018, to to about 21 millions in 2023. In the EU, this decline is also reflected in the decrease in farm numbers: the number of fur farms has dropped from 4350 in 2018, to 1088 in 2023.

A further decline is expected for future figures because since 2020 alone, Estonia, France, Italy, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania have adopted bans on fur farming and similar regulations are under discussion in other countries. Find out more about fur bans.

In June 2023 the EU Agriculture and Fishery Council Meeting showed a clear majority for an EU wide ban on fur farming. Shortly before, the European citizens' initiative 'Fur Free Europe' was successfully concluded with 1.5 million signatures and represents the most successful ECI for animal welfare. It is now for the European Commission to listen and set out a clear legislative proposal that will finally ban fur farming and make the placement of farmed fur products in the European market history.