The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has ramped up its efforts in attempting to convince Hermès to stop the use of crocodile skins in the brand’s iconic Birkin bags.
Its latest call on the luxury brand comes days after the passing of Jane Birkin, the actor and singer who inspired the creation of the infamous luxury handbag.
In an open letter to Hermès, PETA UK has requested for the French fashion house to ban the use of exotic animals in its production in the late personality’s honour.
Quoted in the call, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, said: “Will Hermès continue to hark back to the past, treating these magnificent and highly intelligent exotic animals as nothing more than living, breathing ‘fabric’, or will you embrace positive change and make a commitment to continue Birkin’s legacy in a manner that respects the natural world and all who live in it by using the finest cruelty-free materials to create a modern Birkin and other accessories? We hope you will choose the latter.”
To further reiterate its point, PETA released footage from a farm that it alleged supplies Hermès with its skins.
In the video, which came as part of an investigation by the Kindness Project, crocodiles could be seen in cramped conditions and later mutilated in inhumane methods.
The organisation further claimed that it takes three crocodiles to make just one Hermès bag, and outlined the many designer labels that have banned exotic skins as a whole, including Mulberry, Victoria Beckham and Karl Lagerfeld.