Los Angeles is preparing to host the first-ever Vegan Fashion Week next month.
A growing number of luxury fashion brands – including Chanel, Gucci, Burberry and Versace – have banned the use of fur and exotic animal skins from their collections in recent years.
And, as the tide continues to turn towards new sustainable materials, the arrival of Vegan Fashion Week (VFW) couldn’t be more timely.
The brainchild of founder and animal rights activist Emmanuelle Rienda, Los Angeles – a city that has already banned the sale and manufacture of fur – is preparing to host the first-ever VFW next month.
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“I want to ignite conversations and debates within the industry by educating, elevating, and drawing connections between our most important values: our respect for human life, animal rights, and the environment,” Rienda told VegNews about the fashion-meets-activism project.
Starting on 1 February, the four-day event, which will take place in the California Market Center, aims to end all forms of animal exploitation in the fashion industry.
VFW will open with a soirée inside the Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles, where guests will presented with a climate-centric speech by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Robert Lempert.
This will be accompanied by catwalk shoes and presentations from a list of conscious designers and an exhibition on the evolution of vegan fashion.
Celebrity vegans and vegetarians
Show all 25
Celebrity vegans and vegetarians
1/25 Ariana Grande, pop star
“I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding. But I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-round happier person.”
Ariana Grande/Facebook
2/25 Paul McCartney, musician
“I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time now and over the years I’ve seen how the attitudes have changed around the world, so I’m not surprised when I see new research that shows more and more people are increasingly adopting ‘meat free eating’.”
Getty Images
3/25 Ellen DeGeneres, TV Host
“It doesn’t make [Thanksgiving] harder at all. It makes it easier on the turkeys, too. They get to live.”
Reuters
4/25 Morrissey, musician
“I see no difference between eating animals and paedophilia.”
Getty
5/25 Bill Clinton, former president of the US
Dr Dean Ornish, Clinton’s doctor, said: “I asked him, ‘Why do you want to live longer?’ and he said, ‘I want to live long enough to walk my daughter down the aisle and to see my grandkids born and grow up.'”
Getty
6/25 Peter Dinklage, actor
Dinklage has been a vegetarian since childhood and featured in PETA’s ‘Face Your Food’ film.
WireImage
7/25 Russell Brand, comedian
“I’m now vegan, goodbye eggs, hello Ellen.”
PA
8/25 Ellie Goulding, singer
“I’ve got taxidermy, I’ve got animals…. deer and all sorts. But weirdly, I’m a vegetarian and I don’t eat meat. I’m a walking contradiction.”
Getty
9/25 Ellen Page, actor
Page was named as one of PETA’s ‘Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities’ in 2014.
Getty Images
10/25 Al Gore, American politician
“There are 10 vegan restaurants in Nashville now.” Speaking about how he maintains his vegan diet in the city.
Getty Images
11/25 Tobey Maguire, actor
Maguire said he was a vegan and “stopped consuming any mind-altering substances” when he was 19.
12/25 Stella McCartney
On her website, McCartney said that “the decision not to use leather or fur is not just because I don’t eat animals or that I think that millions of animals each year shouldn’t be killed for the sake of fashion. It’s because I also believe in the connection between fur and leather and the environment. There’s a huge connection.”
13/25 Natalie Portman, actor
Portman converted from being a vegan to vegetarianism.
Getty
14/25 Woody Harrelson, actor
“I’ve always been relatively healthy except for my vices.”
HBO
15/25 Jared Leto, actor and musician
“I’m pretty healthy… I’ve been that way for a long time – 20 solid years of eating vegetarian/vegan and taking care of myself. That probably helps the preservation process.”
WireImage
16/25 Jessica Chastain, actor
It was reported that the vegan actor bought her mother a vegan food truck.
AP Photo/Sony – Columbia Pictures, Jonathan Olley
17/25 Joaquin Phoenix, actor
Featuring a PETA advert to promote vegetarianism for Thanksgiving, he said: “Holidays can be murder on turkeys. Let’s make this one for the birds.”
18/25 Beyonce and Jay-Z
Beyonce announced her vegan diet in a heavily-promoted segment for Good Morning American in June 2015.
GETTY
19/25 Kate Mara, actor
Mara told E! Online that she stayed fit and healthy by being a vegan.
Getty Images
20/25 Alanis Morissette, musician
“I’m predominantly vegan, which my friends hate because it’s not monogamous; 80% is vegan; the other 20% is following what my body needs.”
Reuters
21/25 Alicia Silverstone, actor
Silverston has a blog called The Kind Life which discusses vegan and vegetarian food.
Rex Features
22/25 Kate Nash
“I became a vegetarian last September – I used to suffer from OCD and it got stuck in my head that if I didn’t eat meat then my bunny rabbit, Fluffy, would survive a dangerous operation she had to have.”
Teri Pengilley
23/25 Jennifer Lopez, singer and actor
Lopez said that she recommended a vegan diet “because you wake up and feel great”.
Getty Images
24/25 Mark Hoppus, member of Blink 182
Hoppus announced he was a vegan on Twitter.
Getty Images
25/25 Olivia Wilde, actor
“[Being vegan] is not always easy and accessible. But it’s a way of life and makes me as a person feel really good and physically look better.”
Getty Images
1/25 Ariana Grande, pop star
“I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding. But I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-round happier person.”
Ariana Grande/Facebook
2/25 Paul McCartney, musician
“I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time now and over the years I’ve seen how the attitudes have changed around the world, so I’m not surprised when I see new research that shows more and more people are increasingly adopting ‘meat free eating’.”
Getty Images
3/25 Ellen DeGeneres, TV Host
“It doesn’t make [Thanksgiving] harder at all. It makes it easier on the turkeys, too. They get to live.”
Reuters
4/25 Morrissey, musician
“I see no difference between eating animals and paedophilia.”
Getty
5/25 Bill Clinton, former president of the US
Dr Dean Ornish, Clinton’s doctor, said: “I asked him, ‘Why do you want to live longer?’ and he said, ‘I want to live long enough to walk my daughter down the aisle and to see my grandkids born and grow up.'”
Getty
6/25 Peter Dinklage, actor
Dinklage has been a vegetarian since childhood and featured in PETA’s ‘Face Your Food’ film.
WireImage
7/25 Russell Brand, comedian
“I’m now vegan, goodbye eggs, hello Ellen.”
PA
8/25 Ellie Goulding, singer
“I’ve got taxidermy, I’ve got animals…. deer and all sorts. But weirdly, I’m a vegetarian and I don’t eat meat. I’m a walking contradiction.”
Getty
9/25 Ellen Page, actor
Page was named as one of PETA’s ‘Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities’ in 2014.
Getty Images
10/25 Al Gore, American politician
“There are 10 vegan restaurants in Nashville now.” Speaking about how he maintains his vegan diet in the city.
Getty Images
11/25 Tobey Maguire, actor
Maguire said he was a vegan and “stopped consuming any mind-altering substances” when he was 19.
12/25 Stella McCartney
On her website, McCartney said that “the decision not to use leather or fur is not just because I don’t eat animals or that I think that millions of animals each year shouldn’t be killed for the sake of fashion. It’s because I also believe in the connection between fur and leather and the environment. There’s a huge connection.”
13/25 Natalie Portman, actor
Portman converted from being a vegan to vegetarianism.
Getty
14/25 Woody Harrelson, actor
“I’ve always been relatively healthy except for my vices.”
HBO
15/25 Jared Leto, actor and musician
“I’m pretty healthy… I’ve been that way for a long time – 20 solid years of eating vegetarian/vegan and taking care of myself. That probably helps the preservation process.”
WireImage
16/25 Jessica Chastain, actor
It was reported that the vegan actor bought her mother a vegan food truck.
AP Photo/Sony – Columbia Pictures, Jonathan Olley
17/25 Joaquin Phoenix, actor
Featuring a PETA advert to promote vegetarianism for Thanksgiving, he said: “Holidays can be murder on turkeys. Let’s make this one for the birds.”
18/25 Beyonce and Jay-Z
Beyonce announced her vegan diet in a heavily-promoted segment for Good Morning American in June 2015.
GETTY
19/25 Kate Mara, actor
Mara told E! Online that she stayed fit and healthy by being a vegan.
Getty Images
20/25 Alanis Morissette, musician
“I’m predominantly vegan, which my friends hate because it’s not monogamous; 80% is vegan; the other 20% is following what my body needs.”
Reuters
21/25 Alicia Silverstone, actor
Silverston has a blog called The Kind Life which discusses vegan and vegetarian food.
Rex Features
22/25 Kate Nash
“I became a vegetarian last September – I used to suffer from OCD and it got stuck in my head that if I didn’t eat meat then my bunny rabbit, Fluffy, would survive a dangerous operation she had to have.”
Teri Pengilley
23/25 Jennifer Lopez, singer and actor
Lopez said that she recommended a vegan diet “because you wake up and feel great”.
Getty Images
24/25 Mark Hoppus, member of Blink 182
Hoppus announced he was a vegan on Twitter.
Getty Images
25/25 Olivia Wilde, actor
“[Being vegan] is not always easy and accessible. But it’s a way of life and makes me as a person feel really good and physically look better.”
Getty Images
Guests will also have the opportunity to explore the vegan lounge, where they can dine on vegan food specially prepared by chefs from around the world.
Rienda hopes VFW will work to educate fashion enthusiasts about the ethical, social and environmental issues surrounding the use of animals in the industry and provide a platform for emerging visionaries.
After its LA debut, the event is expected to travel to fashion-forward cities around the globe in an effort to make VFW the standard in years to come.
For more information and tickets, which retail from $22.85-$65.28 (£18-£51) visit Veganfashionweek.org.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News