Milan Fashion Week loses yet another major sponsor following a sustained, targeted campaign by anti-fur activists. This time, it was against shipping company DHL.
The withdrawal of DHL’s support should be a wake-up call for the Italian Fashion Council, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), whose spineless support of the fur industry is rapidly making it lose credibility and corporate sponsors.
CAFT received confirmation of the news on January 27, 2026 with DHL’s global press person releasing this statement: “DHL regularly reviews all partnerships to ensure alignment with our global business priorities and long‑term strategy. Following a review undertaken earlier this year, DHL has decided to discontinue its sponsorship of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and Milan Fashion Week.”
While they claim that this decision happened prior to the anti-fur campaign, DHL conveniently did not respond to our emails when we launched and only confirmed cutting ties with Milan Fashion Week and CNMI after protests started taking place. DHL went on to remove any trace of Milan Fashion Week from its website, while CNMI has also removed DHL’s logo from its list of partners.
Just two days ago, beauty brand Wella severed ties with Milan Fashion Week after activists around the world disrupted and protested at the company’s studios and offices, as well as at the homes of top executives. Once Wella dropped out, attention quickly shifted to DHL. Protests erupted at DHL offices in Machelen, Belgium, and Westerville, Ohio, while activists in Los Angeles picketed outside the home of a DHL regional vice president.
Unlike Wella, DHL executives appear to have wasted no time deciding they did not want protests at their doorsteps. The company swiftly ended its partnership with CNMI and Milan Fashion Week.
Rather than making the ethical choice to end fur on the runway, and spare the lives of countless minks, foxes, and other wild animals, the irresponsible leadership at CNMI continues to cling to this outdated and cruel practice. In doing so, they would rather lose sponsors and damage the global reputation of Italian fashion than to part ways with fur. Could it be representatives from LVMH, specifically from notorious fur profiteers Fendi and Loro Piana, who are on the board of CNMI, are holding back progress at Milan Fashion Week? If so, it is shameful that these two companies, owned by French billionaire bully Bernard Arnault, are preventing the Italian fashion industry from moving forward and leaving behind such a disgraceful practice.
New York and London Fashion Weeks have already banned fur. Milan’s refusal to follow suit is isolating it further with every passing season. As long as CNMI continues to platform fur, sponsors will continue to walk away. The anti-fur movement will make sure of that. Luckily, there are many more sponsors to go.
Milan Fashion Week will go fur-free. Whether that happens in two days or two months of sustained grassroots pressure is up to CNMI.
The choice is theirs.
