Campaigners hail designer’s agreement to stop using fur for all products from autumn/winter 2016 collection

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Fur: Would you rather go naked? Not any longer Read more

The Italian designer Giorgio Armani has agreed to stop using fur for all his products following years of lobbying by animal rights activists.

Armani, 81, said in a statement on Tuesday that new technologies “render the use of cruel practices unnecessary as regards animals” and that the decision reflected his luxury group’s attention to “the critical issues of protecting and caring for the environment and animals”.

The Armani group, which includes catwalk labels Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani, AJ Armani Jeans and homeware brand Armani Casa, will be fur-free from the autumn/winter 2016 collection.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Giorgio Armani said new technologies ‘render the use of cruel practices unnecessary as regards animals’. Photograph: Peter White/Getty Images

Joh Vinding, chairman of the Fur Free Alliance, said the announcement “makes it clear that designers and consumers can have creative freedom and luxury, all without supporting animal cruelty”.

The Humane Society International called Armani’s pledge “probably the most powerful message yet that killing animals for their fur is never fashionable”, adding that designers who continue to use fur “are looking increasingly isolated”.

Armani joins Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren in switching to synthetic alternatives, while British designer Stella McCartney has long followed a “vegetarian” philosophy, shunning fur, leather and feathers.