Feathers were never chic, if you ask us. But now, with the Ibiza Fashion Festival Feather Ban, that’s even more true!
By Sascha Camilli
Anyone with even a passing interest in fashion has witnessed the fur industry’s spectacular fall. From the world’s biggest supermodels choosing to go naked rather than wear it in the 90s, to today’s catwalks where faux fur rules, we all agree: fur is dead.
Now, there’s a growing recognition that, just as a fox’s fur belongs to the fox, a birds feathers belong to birds. And the result? The use of feathers in fashion is plummeting. Most recently, the sustainability-focused Ibiza Fashion Festival banned feathers from its runways by signing PETA’s Feather-Free Pledge.
This is further proof that design leaders realise that feathers—largely the product of factory farming—are just as cruel as fur.
Not Dropped – Cruelly Torn
Speaking to up-and-coming designers is part of my role at PETA. I’ve often heard echoed wholesaler myths around feather procurement. These myths include the notion that they only supply feathers naturally dropped by birds. Oh, how I wish! But this claim doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Ostriches, the bird most commonly exploited for feathers, don’t have a moulting season. While the idea that the world’s birds are shedding enough plumes to fuel an entire global industry while retaining requisite plumes to remain aerodynamic, warm, and dry is laughable, real industry practices are grim.
PETA US investigated ostrich farms and abattoirs in South Africa. That’s where most ostrich feathers originate. Our eye-witnesses filmed workers forcibly restraining ostriches as young as one year old. They were striking birds in the head on their way to the slaughterhouse, and mocking frightened birds when they fell.
Ostriches are electrically shocked before their throats are slit. Their feathers are then torn from their still-warm bodies. They’re then skinned and dismembered.
Alongside post-slaughter plucking, live plucking may still be used to procure feathers (and down, the fluffy feathers used in technical gear and bedding). This causes birds immense pain and sometimes fatal injuries.
Not Just Ostriches
Sadly, other birds fare no better. Peacocks, pheasants, emus, turkeys, and chickens all endure miserable lives on crowded farms. They then suffer painful deaths within a trade shrouded in secrecy and fraught with black market activity.
For example? One investigation into peacock farms in China found birds confined to plastic bags. Yes, really! These were taped at their necks to protect their profitable feathers, denying them any natural movement and behaviour.
Factory farming birds for feathers also increases the risk of a deadly disease. A farmed goose in China was patient zero for the precursor of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, which scientists now warn could cause the next pandemic. But anywhere you crowd birds in piles of faeces is risky! And as far from glamorous as you can get.
Better Alternatives
Just as plastic-free bio-based furs such as Ecopel’s Flur material provide a cruelty-free, eco-friendly upgrade to animal fur, the animal-free feather market is also growing.
From cotton tulle and silicone and PET-recycled organza to Blue District’s bamboo-based vegan “ostrich” feathers, green, kind feather upgrades are replacing cruelly plucked plumes in fashion. These cruelty free ‘feathers’ are ideal for adding to all kinds of fashion, from couture to festival gear.
As Ibiza Fashion Festival CEO Karen Windle puts it, “The fashion industry is rapidly moving away from cruelty to animals – and that includes feathers”.
That’s great news for birds, human health, and the planet.
Sascha Camilli is Manager, PR Projects at PETA and author of Vegan Style.
This post was written by a guest contributor
