Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour stepped out in a sustainable faux fur coat from designer Stella McCartney’s upcoming Autumn 2020 collection.

The British designer took to Instagram to express her gratitude. “Proud, proud moment,” she wrote. “Anna in #FurFreeFur!” McCartney said that the moment sends “a loud message to the industry that change is here.”

Wintour, who has sat at the helm of Vogue for more than three decades, is well aware that the fashion industry’s conscience is changing. In an interview with CNN last April, she said: “Everybody is concerned about the climate crisis and what should be done to help.”

She continued, “And obviously we’re very aware, as other industries are, that we have been at fault and what can we do in the relatively short amount of time we have to course correct.”

Sustainable Vegan Fur?

Vanguards of the fashion industry such as Chanel, Burberry, Gucci, and Prada have banned fur from future collections. But, Wintour is not entirely opposed to animal pelts. She said that “fake fur is obviously more of a polluter than real fur.”

Many faux furs are made from polyester, which can take between 20 and 200 years to break down. However, the new Stella McCartney collection uses Koba Fur-Free-Fur, a vegan fur made from plant-based materials, including polyester blended with corn byproduct.

“I think that fashion is about the future, and you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your style for sustainability,” McCartney said backstage at her Spring 2020 fashion show in Paris. “I wanted to try to develop a faux fur that was just more sustainable.”

According to Vogue, Koba is the most sustainable animal-free fur to date. Like traditional fur, it is soft to the touch. It can also be recycled at the end of its lifecycle.

Speaking to the dilemma of creating eco-faux fur, Claire Bergkamp, Stella McCartney’s worldwide director of sustainability and innovation said: “Polyester isn’t the same quality that we want, and the modacrylic doesn’t give us the sustainability that we want. This is kind of bridging that gap.”

The new Stella McCartney faux fur coat will be available on the website later this year.