2022 was an abhorrent year for the fur industry and a prodigious one in the fight to free animals imprisoned on fur farms. CAFT’s mission is to forever end the killing of wildlife for their fur, and with each campaign win, another step is taken toward that goal.

Together, we saw countless victories, from designers announcing fur-free policies to legislative victories that changed the landscape for the future of animals on fur farms. But what we find most impressive, is the collaborative work taken up by grassroots organizers around the world. 

CAFT is an all volunteer group made up of 5 individuals. What we achieved as an organization in 2022 is not the work of 6 people but rather the work of activists all over the globe, with one goal in mind: abolishing the fur trade.

In CAFT’s 2021 “Year in Review” we vowed to get Moncler to go fur-free. Together, we did much more, let’s take a look. 

HIGHLIGHTS

  • On January 25th Moncler & Stone Island went fur-free after our 123 day campaign. 
  • On January 25th we launched two international campaigns, one against Zegna Group and the other against the world’s largest luxury brand: Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton (LVMH). 
  • On February 1st all of the Zenga Group pledges to go fur-free after 4 days of attention from CAFT. This included 13 subsidiaries including Thom Browne.
  • On November 21st we launched a campaign against Rebecca Minkoff – 14 days later Minkoff announced a fur-free policy. 
  • Over 2022 coalition to abolish the fur trade held 5 international actions resulting in 375 protests in 47 cities in 10 countries. 
  • CAFT Europe was launched and has since swept across the continent.  

Thank you for your support and commitment over this past year. CAFT looks forward to more victories with you over 2023. 

Read the full reports below. 

MONCLER VICTORY

Our first success of the year came with a fur-free announcement by Moncler. Moncler was one of the world’s foremost purveyors of luxury ski jackets, and the marquee items in their collection all included the ripped off skins of blameless coyotes. Alongside Canada Goose (now also fur-free) Moncler jackets were pervasive in virtually every affluent cold weather neighborhood.

But they won’t be any longer, as after a powerful group effort that saw, at its height, one protest every two days, they caught up with modern times and announced a fur-free policy. Coyotes will be free to howl forevermore, unmolested by Moncler’s blood profiteering ways.

In addition to the basic strategy of hammering their retail locations, CAFT looked for an achilles’ heel. We found that in Moncler’s recent acquisition of the fashion brand Stone Island. Stone Island did not sell a single item of fur, but since they were now connected to a company that did, we focused our attention on them.

After four energetic protests at Stone Island, Moncler dropped fur just a few weeks later. Stone Island had no skin in the furred animal skin game, so this pressure on a secondary target was the final push necessary for the entire corporation to quickly announce their step toward sustainability. Cages that would have imprisoned baby raccoon dogs will remain empty due to our worldwide struggle for liberation. 

ZEGNA GROUP VICTORY

Our second win of the year came more swiftly than we could have even imagined. A mere four days after the launch of our campaign against Zegna Group, the world’s largest and most profitable menswear company, we received a letter confirming their sudden commitment to going fur-free.

This came on the heels of a rapid fire weekend of activism that featured an online comment initiative and three on the ground protests spread across Boston and LA. Zegna moved swiftly to enact a fur-free policy not because of 3 protests, but rather CAFT’s reputation for consistency. Once we latch onto a target we do not relent until we win. Zegna Group saved themselves the hassle of weekly protests worldwide.

REBECCA MINKOFF VICTORY

Our third campaign victory of the year was won against the fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff. Unique among CAFT campaigns thus far was the fact that Minkoff had supposedly already dropped fur. She had pledged to PETA in 2019 that she would never use the skins of furred animals ever again. And yet, for the 2022 winter season, our team noticed that she was planning to release a full rabbit fur coat.

The only thing worse than an animal abuser is an animal abuser and a liar. We cannot allow brands to renege on their promises to drop fur. Anyone who goes back on the fur-free commitment will be mercilessly targeted.

Which is exactly what CAFT activists did. Rebecca Minkoff, due to financial hardships during COVID, did not have a single retail store. So we latched onto her parent company Sunrise Brands and, like the steel toothed traps used by our enemies, did not let go. Tags, American Rag CIE, and Hero Motors, all Sunrise Brands who do not directly sell fur, were each visited in some capacity. We also dropped by the neighborhoods of high-ranking company employees, including the gilded Beverly Hills gates of the corporation’s CEO himself.

After only 14 days of pressure, Sunrise Brands confirmed to CAFT that all 14 of their brands including Rebecca Minkoff would be instituting a fur-free policy, effective immediately. 

THE RISE OF EUROPE

If no other achievement marked the year 2022, the resurgence of Europe as a powerful front in the battle to defeat the fur trade would have been enough. CAFT Europe, CAFT Denmark, Collectif SIPE and various other independent animal rights groups have taken on the LVMH campaign, and with this has come a surge of activism, on the doorstep of the most heinous fur offender LVMH.

The rise of Europe started in the Netherlands and has since spread to 8 countries in the EU. Danish activists have engaged in rough and tumble actions. German activists have held the line across their country. Spanish activists have shown no compromise. Activists in Paris have boldly disrupted stores and headquarters at the very heart of the LVMH empire. The momentum of the grassroots has reached massive proportions and shows no sign of slowing. This global unity is exactly what we need to defeat the fur trade.The rise of Europe makes a victory against LVMH inevitable and a world without fur possible.

NORTH AMERICAN RESISTANCE

Since the announcement of our campaign against the planet’s most powerful luxury conglomerate, North American activists have not backed down. Undaunted by LVMH’s colossal size and influence, New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami. Chicago, Boston, DC and more have all been consistent fixtures outside the doors of their brands and holdings. 

Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi and Loro Piana have been the main targets of our coalition as these are the most recognizable LVMH brands that still actively sell fur. But activists have also branched out, engaging in protests in front of stores such as Tiffany & Co and Rimowa. As the campaign burns on, we have even begun the process of letting tangential (but still LVMH-owned) brands like Uncle Julio’s and Leslie’s Pools know that if you deal in any way with Bernard Arnault and his sickening fur selling ways, then you deal with us.

BEATING LVMH IS ESSENTIAL TO ANIMAL LIBERATION

At the beginning of this year, CAFT announced a monumental campaign. This campaign has set us up against the most challenging target the fur industry has to offer, the most lucrative corporation in Europe headed by the richest human being on the planet: Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH). 

Bernard Arnault’s cut throat conglomerate has always had a reputation for ruthlessness. In the 1980s, while still building his castle of skulls, Arnault fired nearly 10,000 of his employees in just two years. He has been called “The Wolf in Cashmere” and “The Terminator.”

LVMH is an enemy of all who seek justice and equality, and for the animal liberation movement, they are the catalyst to abolish the fur trade. 

Throughout the year, activists have persistently protested many of the conglomerate’s 75 brand holdings. We pressure both those who sell fur as well as those who do not, and lead with the motto: “deal with LVMH, deal with us!” This strategy is known as secondary targeting and its efficacy has been proven with 9 consecutive campaign victories and 43 brands going fur-free.

Beating LVMH is an ambitious goal, but an imperative step if we are to abolish the fur trade. LVMH owns nearly all of the large fashion houses still selling fur. Once they stop buying the pelts of tortured wildlife the fur industry will have lost a major structural component in the foundation of their existence. 

CAFT will beat LVMH. Future generations of wildlife depend on our success. 

ACTION IS EVERYTHING

Animals do not care how hard we tried, they care about results – they care about liberation. Since CAFT’s inception we have won 9 campaigns resulting in 43 brands going fur-free. This would not be possible without the hard work of the international coalition to abolish the fur trade. 

In 2022 we have collectively done 375 protests in 47 cities across 10 countries. 

Talk is cheap, action is everything.

Thank you to everyone that made this year’s accomplishments possible.