"Don't Use Crocodile Leather"… Animal Rights Activist Storms Gucci Fashion Show Stage

Cruel Methods of Obtaining Reptile Leather Spark Protest
Early This Month, Intrusion at New York Coach Fashion Show Stage

At the Gucci fashion show held in Milan, Italy, a member of an animal protection organization stormed the stage to stage a surprise protest against the use of reptile leather.

According to foreign media including the British daily The Telegraph on the 22nd (local time), during Gucci's 2024 women's spring-summer (SS) collection fashion show held during Milan Fashion Week that day, a woman jumped onto the stage.

The woman held up a sign among the models walking the runway before being dragged off by security guards. The sign read "Gucci: Ban Exotic Skins," and at the bottom of the sign was the logo of the international animal protection organization PETA.

On the 22nd (local time), an animal rights activist who stormed the Gucci fashion show stage in Milan, Italy, was restrained by security personnel.
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

Exotic skins is a fashion industry term referring to the leather of reptiles such as crocodiles, snakes, and lizards. European luxury brands like Gucci make handbags and shoes from crocodile and snake leather, with prices ranging from millions to tens of millions of Korean won.

Environmental and animal rights groups criticize the methods used to obtain exotic skins as excessively cruel. Before skinning crocodiles or snakes, they are usually rendered unconscious with hammers or electric shocks or have their heads cut off. Due to the nature of reptiles, even with broken spines or decapitation, nerves remain, causing the animals to experience extreme pain.

On the 7th (local time), during the Coach fashion show at New York Fashion Week in the United States, animal rights activists stormed the stage to hold a surprise protest against the use of animal leather.
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

Earlier this month, PETA activists also stormed the Coach fashion show stage at New York Fashion Week in the United States to protest the use of animal leather. Two activists walked the runway alongside models; one appeared with body paint resembling muscles and tendons beneath human skin to represent skinned animals. Another held a sign reading "Coach: Leather Kills." They were immediately removed by security, but photos and videos of their protest spread widely on social media.

PETA has continuously staged runway protests since Oscar de la Renta's fashion show in 1991. The organization requests various fashion brands to stop using leather, fur, and wool.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.