Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger Ban Exotic Animal Leather

This week, PVH Corp—the parent company of fashion labels Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein—committed to not using exotic animal skins such as snake and crocodile in all future fashion collections. The move follows discussions between PVH and animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) about the dangers of keeping wild animals in unnatural conditions for the purpose of harvesting their skins for fashion, primarily in relation to the spread of zoonotic disease such as COVID-19. “At Tommy Hilfiger, we’re committed to creating a better fashion industry by creating fashion that ‘Wastes Nothing and Welcomes All,’” the Tommy Hilfiger brand told PETA in a statement. “We have always [taken] and will always take the environment, human rights, our community and related matters very seriously, which is why we don’t use fur or exotic skins in any of our collections. Together, we can drive fashion forward for good.”

PETA sent a box of vegan chocolates to PVH to thank the corporation for its commitment to ban exotic animal skins. “Behind every crocodile-skin or snakeskin item is an animal who experienced a violent, bloody death,” PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews said. “As wildlife biologists point out, in addition to being cruel and unnecessary, the capture, confinement, and slaughter of wild animals is what spawns pandemics like the one we’re all suffering through now.”

A growing number of fashion brands—including Brooks Brothers, Jil Sander, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, HUGO BOSS, Victoria Beckham, and Vivienne Westwood—have implemented similar bans on the use of exotic skins.