Italy Luxury Group Hermes Is Isolated.

In less than 2 years, 90% of the top luxury brands have declared the use of animal fur off, and are breaking the rules of the industry.

According to fashion business news, under the urging of opinion leaders from PETA and Pamela Anderson, Italy luxury group Prada announced on Wednesday that its brand will no longer use animal fur from the 2020 spring and summer women's wear series.

It is noteworthy that luxury brands such as CHANEL, Gucci, Versace and Burberry have also joined the international zero fur alliance.

In an interview with CNN, Prada stressed that the material was only limited to fur and will continue to use leather and other products considered to be a by-product of meat trade in the future. The existing fur products will continue to be sold until they are sold out.

PJ Smith, director of fashion policy at the Humane Association of the United States, believes that Prada's decision marks the shift of the head brand of the luxury goods industry from the original opposite side to the same line. Joh Vinding, chairman of the international zero fur alliance, also said that with the increasing number of luxury brands, consumers' attitudes towards animal fur have also changed.

PETA responded through social media such as Instagram. Although Prada has taken the first step, they hope Prada will be able to use ostrich skin, crocodile skin, lizard skin and snake skin instead of ordinary animal fur, just like CHANEL.

It is reported that PETA US affiliates have already invested in Prada to propose a ban on special leather at the shareholders' meeting.

The international zero fur alliance is an international coalition of more than 40 animal protection organizations. It has millions of supporters around the world dedicated to ending the fur industry around the world and killing animals for fur.

The brand added to the international zero fur alliance also includes Armani, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, among which Calvin Klein is the first fashion brand to announce the abandoning of fur material. In 1990, it joined the international zero fur alliance.

Driven by the improvement of consumer awareness, besides the brand, the western Hollywood and Berkeley of Losangeles, San Francisco and California of the United States have also passed the regulations prohibiting the sale of fur, and the New York parliament is considering relevant measures.

Last September, the British Fashion Association announced that animal clothing would be banned in London Fashion week.

So far, only five of the top luxury brands are Hermes and LVMH Louis Vuitton.

Some people in the industry say that Prada is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Hermes, and still insists on using rare animal skins as raw materials to earn a high profit of Hermes, which has been isolated and will face enormous challenges and pressures.

Hermes could not sleep.

Hermes is still struggling to get rid of the situation of relying on handbags, but the animal fur that the handbag products rely on has become the sword of Damour and Chris on the head of Hermes.

Unlike Gucci, CHANEL and other luxury brands, Hermes set up high-end harness and gradually extended to handbags, garments, scarves, accessories and perfume. The whole brand is permeated with noble aristocracy from the whole to the details.

Thanks to Hermes's ultimate pursuit of quality and technology, handbags made from rare materials such as alligator skins and lizard skins have always been the favorite of many celebrities, even to a difficult point.

The "purchase Bible" formed around the platinum package has become a part of the brand culture. The relationship and brand system established by the brand and consumers over the years are also the most valuable asset for the brand.

According to fashion headline data, Hermes's platinum bag made of rare animal leather accounted for about 15% of the group's handbag sales. The handbag priced at 10 thousand and 500 pounds (about 100 thousand yuan) to 150 thousand pounds (about 1 million 450 thousand yuan). The specific price is determined according to the animal skin used.

However, with the popularity of platinum bags, the backdrop of the gorgeous and beautiful appearance created by Hermes has been revealed gradually.

In 2012, members of the PETA wore clothes and masks and walked on the streets calling on Hermes to stop selling fur products made from animal fur. At one point, they bought the shares of Hermes and prevented them from using rare animal skins as raw materials.

In 2015, Hermes fell into the killing of crocodiles. PETA charged two Hermes crocodile skin suppliers in Dezhou and Zimbabwe, killing the crocodile, and published a secretly recorded farm video. In the video, a crocodile was cut off in front of the same class in the Hermes crocodile skin supplier's farms. It caused widespread controversy. After seeing the video, Jane Berkin asked Hermes to stop naming her handbag in her name.

In 2016, a white Himalaya alligator platinum package of Hermes was shot at nearly 3 million Hong Kong dollars in Hongkong Christie's, but the flawless leather was cut off from the crocodile.

Influenced by a series of videos and reports, the image of Hermes platinum handbag in the minds of consumers has been greatly reduced, and its popularity has slowed down.

In order to quell the pressure of public opinion, Axel Dumas, chief executive of Hermes, responded personally to PETA's doubts, saying that Hermes ensured that suppliers of Birkin and Kelly handbags, including production, followed the code of ethics and international regulations.

At the meeting, he stressed the importance of understanding and respecting the concern of PETA, but it did not mean that the company had to accept the attitude of PETA in agriculture and animal husbandry. Hermes's agricultural and animal husbandry conditions strictly abide by international laws and regulations, and the company has been paying attention to protecting and treating animals.

What it means is that when Gucci and other luxury brands stop using animal fur, Hermes suddenly focuses on increasing production capacity.

At present, Hermes has a total of 52 production plants, of which more than 40 are located in France, and its production base in Guyenne and Montereau will also be completed in 2020. The brand also recently issued a statement that it plans to establish a new leather factory in Normandy and employs 250 workers.

At the same time that CHANEL reiterated the brand value at all costs, Hermes chose to unveil the mystery step by step, loosening the strict control of supply and demand relationship.

Some analysts point out that for luxury goods based on scarcity, they need to be alert to the risk of dilution of brand value. After all, the definition of luxury goods has changed in the minds of young people.

The Boston consulting company mentioned in a report that the digital development of luxury goods group is a contradictory process. They must face and overcome the tension and contrast between the exclusiveness of the traditional luxury brands and the popularity of the Internet. The more the products are exposed on the Internet, the easier it is to get them through the electricity supplier, and the easier the brand image is to be cheaply.

Take advantage of Gucci

Facing the change of the industry environment, Hermes has been pushed to the corner.

Some analysts have pointed out that as consumers increasingly pay attention to the impact of luxury fashion on society and environment, stopping the use of animal fur has become a way for luxury brands to show their attitudes and enhance their image. Gucci, as the most popular luxury brand, its continuous deepening of animal protection is actually a further suppression of Hermes.

According to fashion headline data, Hermes was first overtaken by Gucci in 2017, with annual sales less than 700 million euros, and in 2018, the distance was extended to 2 billion euros.

In the first quarter of this year, Hermes sales increased by 16% to 1 billion 610 million euros compared with the same period last year, the largest increase in nearly four years, but still lagged behind the 20% growth rate of the LVMH fashion department and the growth rate of Gucci 24.6% during the same period.

It is not hard to see that 2017 is the key node for Gucci to reverse the situation.

In October of that year, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri suddenly announced that the brand joined the international zero fur alliance. "Do you still think that animal fur is the trend today? I don't think so. That's why Gucci no longer uses fur."

To the industry's surprise, Gucci made auctions of animal fur products that had already been produced but not yet sold after making the decision to stop the use of animal fur. The proceeds were donated to animal rights organizations HIS and LAV and donated 1 million euros to UNICEF, aiming to emphasize the determination of their consciousness pformation to the industry.

Gucci is like a huge stone falling into the calm lake.

According to fashion headline statistics, a new brand or designer has joined the international zero fur alliance every 1 months since the beginning of the year.

In 2015, the German fashion brand Hugo Boss joined the international anti fur alliance and began to comply with the fur ban of alliance one hundred percent from the autumn and winter series in 2016.

In 2015, Stella McCartney won the British Fashion Awards with a pure white #FurFreeFur series fur imitation coat.

In the spring of 2016, Giorgio Armani also began to abandon fur materials from the 2016/17 autumn and winter series.

In June 2017, Yoox Net-A-Porter, a luxury fashion business group, hopes to make further progress in the field of sustainable development and zero cruelty fashion, and promises that all products made from animal fur will be removed from its online store.

In October 2017, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri suddenly announced its accession to the international zero fur alliance.

In December 2017, VF group, the parent company of Vans, announced that it would no longer use fur.

In March 2018, Donatella Versace, the second generation head of the Versace, said that Versace had begun to take action instead of using animal fur. She thought that it should not create fashion by killing animals.

In March 2018, the San Francisco City Council recently passed the law prohibiting the fur trade to become the largest anti fur city in the United States.

In April 2018, John Galliano, the current creative director of Maison Margiela, announced that it would no longer use animal fur.

In May 2018, chief executive of Bottega Veneta said that future leather materials will no longer come from animals.

In June 2018, following the announcement that the fur would no longer be used, Gucci would stop using Angola rabbit hair.

In September 2018, Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti announced that the brand would no longer burn backlog stocks and no longer use animal fur such as rabbit hair, fox hair, mink and raccoon skin.

In September 2018, the British Fashion Association decided to stop using animal fur in London Fashion week.

In September 2018, the most American Losangeles will ban fur sales in 2020.

In September 2018, PETA invested in Farfetch to urge more luxury brands to stop using animal fur.

In October 2018, Diane von Furstenberg decided to stop using animal fur.

In October 2018, Coach joined the international zero fur alliance and announced that it would no longer use animal fur.

In October 2018, Jean Paul Gaultier said that he was considering giving up the use of fur.

In December 2018, CHANEL will not use any rare animal fur such as crocodile skin.

In February 2019, 3.1 Phillip Lim announced that it would no longer use animal fur.

In May 2019, Kai Yun group issued animal welfare guidelines.

In May 2019, Prada announced that it would no longer use animal fur from the spring and summer series in 2020.

In order to better enhance the awareness of animal protection in luxury fashion industry, Kai Yun group issued new animal welfare guidelines immediately after its fashion summit in Copenhagen on Monday.

The guidelines were developed by Kai Yun group and animal welfare experts, farmers, herdsmen, scientists and non-governmental organizations for more than three years. They were divided into three grades: copper, silver and gold, covering all aspects of the entire supply chain, including how to deal with the commonly used objects in fashion and textile industries. The guidelines will be applied to 82 farms in more than 60 countries in the world.

Fashion headlines mentioned earlier in the report that in the luxury industry, we must constantly innovate and evolve in order to continue on the normal track of performance. Gucci's abrupt 180 degree change no longer uses animal fur, which is undoubtedly a long-term strategy.

Under the constant impression, people began to have more reasons to buy Gucci, not only for beauty, but also for profound brand consumption.

In the first quarter of this year, Kai Yun group's revenue continued to be driven by the core brand Gucci performance, up 21.9% to 3 billion 785 million euros compared with the same period last year, while the luxury sector sales recorded an increase of 21.7% to 3 billion 648 million euros.

The luxury industry is not a choice.

No matter what industry, the real driving force behind the change in wind direction is actually consumers.

According to the research report released by online service GreenMatch this year, 90% millennial consumers said they would turn to other brands because of their different values. Z generation also admits that they are more interested in brands that take the initiative to adopt sustainable development measures and assume moral responsibility, and believe that these values are more important than prices.

In 2015, 72% of the Z generation expressed willingness to spend more money on products produced in a sustainable way, compared with 55% in 2014.

Another report shows that in the eyes of young consumers, the importance of luxury goods is gradually decreasing. They attach more importance to the culture, connotation and experience of brands.

At present, Hermes is still hesitant about how to balance the scarcity and the brand younger. The former is the moat of Hermes for many years. It is precisely because of the luxury craft and scarcity that Hermes can occupy the important position of the luxury industry for a long time. But the latter is the trend that the industry is almost irresistible nowadays. Whether Prada, Dior or Louis Vuitton are beginning to be bold and young.

Because other products other than handbags are not excellent, consumers complain that it is compulsory for consumers to buy rare animal handbags if they are forced to buy products such as garments.

Competitor CHANEL said in the report that the growth of performance was mainly due to the popularity of the new perfume Gabrielle and the increase in sales of accessories such as watches and jewellery.

In contrast, Hermes lacks such introductory products. Obviously, Hermes is aware of this and is stepping up its launch of perfume products, but the scale of income is still very small.

In order to reduce its dependence on platinum bags and Kelly handbags, Hermes finally took a bold step in March this year, and decided to formally enter the beauty industry and plan to launch a large-scale cosmetic product in 2020.

In an interview with French media Le Monde earlier, Axel Dumas revealed that in the increasingly fierce competition in the industry, it is very necessary for the brand to fully distribute the cosmetics, perfume and personal care market, so as to enhance the competitiveness of the brand itself.

For LVMH, though its brand has not yet joined the wave of zero fur on a large scale, it has begun to strictly control the source of rare animal skins. In 2011, it bought the Hang Lung Group, one of the world's largest crocodile leather manufactory, and tried to ensure compliance with the ethical standards from production to sales.

Bruno Pavlovsky, President of CHANEL, also pointed out in earlier interviews with the US media that it is becoming more and more difficult to purchase fur that meets the requirements of brand quality and moral standards. Therefore, the brand will focus on developing textile and leather materials in the future.

According to the latest report of fur suppliers, its business profits fell by 22% to 4 million 500 thousand euros in the year to October 31st last year, and sales of agency business fell by 28% to 314 million euros, and sales reduced by 13% to 45 million 700 thousand euros.

In addition, the report also pointed out that despite the declining global mink production, the price of mink fur still fell by 24%, and fox fur prices decreased by 20%, mainly due to the influence of Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors and other brands on the use of imitation fur and the inventory pressure caused by China's economic slowdown.

Hannah Weiland, founder of Shrimp, an artificial fur brand, said earlier that artificial fur is no longer a simple trend, but a new consumption choice.

Designer brand StellaMcCartney, the founder of the same name, appeals more. "It's time for the fashion industry to wake up. Fur is cruel and out of date. The use of new materials and technologies is the most exciting part of the industry."

However, there are also objections to luxury brand abandoning animal fur for the use of artificial fur.

Because man-made fibers are also from non renewable resources and are as hard to degrade as plastic bags, once abandoned and buried in the soil, it will take 500 to 1000 time to degrade, and the washed leather grass is more likely to bring chemicals into the water supply.

But anyway, fur leather, the controversial topic in fashion industry since 90s, is changing to a positive direction. More and more luxury brands begin to reflect on themselves.

The competition in the luxury industry is not just a contest of fashion authority, but also a struggle for social discourse.

Before the crisis came, the industry did not leave much time for Hermes to choose. The luxury industry changed its skin in three years.

Author: Zhou Huining