British fashion house Burberry has announced it will no longer use fur or angora.

In recent years, the company used rabbit, fox, mink and Asiatic racoon – but these will all be banned from future collections.

According to Burberry, there will be no fur in the collection it will present on September 17, and it will phase out existing fur products. The new collection will be the first for new Chief Creative Officer designer Riccardo Tisci, formerly Givenchy.

Unsold goods

In addition, the company has pledged to stop burning its unsold goods.

Chief executive Marco Gobbetti said: “Modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible. This belief is core to us at Burberry and key to our long-term success.

“We are committed to applying the same creativity to all parts of Burberry as we do to our products.”

‘Great news’

Vegan charity PETA said: “Cartwheels are happening at PETA HQ following the announcement that iconic British brand Burberry is joining Armani, Versace, Gucci, Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, and others in banning fur from all its collections – and that it’s ditching angora, too.

“This great news comes after over a decade of campaigning by PETA and our international affiliates against Burberry’s use of fur, including holding dozens of protests outside its stores around the world, sending tens of thousands of e-mails, distributing countless leaflets and posters, and even becoming a company shareholder in order to attend its annual shareholder meeting back in 2007.

“At that time, the question we wanted to ask the company was this ‘when will Burberry stop supporting cruelty to animals … and respect the will of 93 percent of the British public by removing all fur products from your stores?’ It’s been a long wait, but we’ve finally got our answer!”

‘Delighted’

Wendy Higgins of Humane Society International UK added: “HSI first met with Burberry almost a decade ago to urge the brand to drop fur, so we are delighted that this iconic British fashion giant is finally going fur-free. Most British consumers don’t want anything to do with the cruelty of fur and so this is absolutely the right decision by this quintessentially British brand.

“And as fashion week kicks off today in New York, Burberry’s compassionate stance couldn’t have come at a better time, sending a strong message to designers like Prada still using fur who are looking more and more isolated and outdated by the day.

“Countless investigations have revealed appalling welfare issues on fur farms including obesity, deformed feet, diseased eyes and even missing limbs. Burberry is very wise to be ending its association with fur and it joins the ranks of an ever increasing number of top designers like Gucci, Michael Kors, DKNY and Versace, who have also realised that real fur has no future in fashion.”