“ I am pleased to announce the elimination of angora wool from all the collections of the group, testifying to a tangible commitment to the control of its production with respect to the protection of the natural world . I have always believed in innovation and in the search for new materials and innovative methods for the treatment of traditional raw materials “.

With this communication , the designer Giorgio Armani reveals his group’s renunciation of the use of a raw material identified by LAV , PETA and other animal welfare organizations as the cause of atrocious cruelty .

Stop to angora wool

Therefore, starting from the autumn-winter 2022-2023 season, Armani will no longer use angora wool. The material will be banned from all collections of its lines (Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, EA7 and Armani Exchange) and will be added to the list of materials excluded from the group’s animal-free policy , such as animal fur .

“ This further milestone of the Armani Group is partly also the result of a process of discussion and dialogue with the LAV, which has been consolidated for years now” , declared Simone Pavesi, Head of Animal Free Fashion at Lav. “ In several meetings we have represented the critical issues of the wool supply chain obtained from Angora rabbits by pointing outthis material among the priorities to be disposed of in a perspective of greater sustainability and ethics of fashion “.

A choice that has garnered the applause of other animal rights associations, primarily PETA: “ Today’s socially conscious fashion consumers want nothing to do with an industry that pulls hair from the bodies of rabbits that are still alive “, he said PETA Vice President of International Programs Mimi Bekhechi. “ PETA celebrates Armani’s decision to extend its no-fur policy to include angora, which encourages all designers who still use it to keep up with the times .”

Armani is not the first to stop using this wool, in the name of a cruelty-free fashion industry. In fact, the brand joins hundreds of other big brands – including Valentino, Gucci, Diane von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein, Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger, Furla, Stella McCartney – who have pledged to ban angora from their garments and accessories .

The cruelties of the Angora industry

According to what reported by Lav, angora is a yarn that is obtained from the homonymous rabbits in a particularly bloody way: the animals are in fact immobilized on wooden boards, with their limbs tied, while the hair is literally torn from the body . At the end of this barbaric practice, the animals are left to themselves, agonizing.

A sizeable slice of Angora wool production takes place in China. However – as the investigation by the NGO One Voice in France demonstrates – even moving to Europe, the methods used to obtain the raw material remain ruthless.

Armani, steps forward towards sustainability and animal welfare

Recently appointed Knight of the Grand Cross, a high honor conferred on him by Sergio Mattarella, for years the “king of fashion” Giorgio Armani has taken steps forward, in the direction of a more sustainable and more attentive fashion system : to the origin of raw materials, to methods with which they are obtained and processed.

In accordance with the Fur Free Alliance , since 2016 the Italian brand has introduced a fur free policy , abolishing the use of animal fur from all its products. The adhesion of the brand to the ” Fashion Pact “

is three years later., an international agreement with which the main companies in the sector have undertaken to concretely address the issues of climate and the environment.