The Fashion World Is Banning Fur. Will Fur-Loving Hollywood Get the Memo?

From the 1930s through the ’50s, you’d be hard-pressed to encounter any high-profile Hollywood film that didn’t include the industry’s most popular actresses in mink coats. Think of Myrna Loy in The Thin ManRita Hayworth in Gilda or Marilyn Monroe in How to Marry a Millionaire. At the height of the Great Depression, a woman onscreen swathed in fur made a statement of both style and wealth. Actresses also happily participated in fashion editorials and advertisements, from Joan Fontaine wearing a white mink in a 1944 Vogue editorial to the famed “What Becomes a Legend Most?” campaign orchestrated by the mink brand Blackglama, which between 1968 and 1994 featured pretty much every star of Hollywood’s golden era and beyond, including Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand.

But fast-forward to 2025, and fur’s place in popular culture is increasingly called into question, due to concerns about animal welfare and growing mainstream awareness of the inhumane methods employed in fur farming. On Wednesday, the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced that, beginning with the September 2026 New York Fashion Week, animal fur was banned from the runways supported by the influential organization.

The CFDA is the latest to join the growing ban on real fur in fashion. “There is already little to no fur shown at NYFW, but by taking this position, the CFDA hopes to inspire American designers to think more deeply about the fashion industry’s impact on animals, Steven Kolb, CEO and president of the CFDA, said in a statement released on Wednesday. “Consumers are moving away from products associated with animal cruelty, and we want to position American fashion as a leader on those fronts, while also driving material innovation.”

In October, Condé Nast, publisher of magazines that include Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQannounced that real fur no longer would be featured in any of the company’s editorials. New York Fashion Week, meanwhile, isn’t leading the way in this decision among show producers — London Fashion Week enacted a similar ban in 2023, while Copenhagen’s design community banned the use of real fur in 2022. That might not seem like a huge gap on New York’s part, but for fashion journalists who have covered American designers for decades, it’s easy to remember protests and press conferences organized by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at New York show venues as far back as the 1990s and most recently in September 2023, when PETA members stormed the runway of Coach’s Spring 2024 show to protest the brand’s use of leather (Coach had banned fur in 2018).

Fold in the Dec. 2 announcement that Poland — the largest fur producer in the European Union and the second-largest producer in the world behind China — had signed a fur-farming ban into law, and PETA representatives are more optimistic than ever that their fight is succeeding. “We are thrilled, though not surprised,” Ashley Byrne, PETA’s director of outreach communications, tells The Hollywood Reporter of the CFDA’s announcement. “[The CFDA] is following the lead of London and Copenhagen, as well as Vogue‘s pledge of a fur-free policy in their editorials. Most major designers have dropped the use of real fur, while just yesterday, Poland signed its fur ban into law. We feel confident in saying the fur industry is dead.” To back up that statement, Byrne noted that global fur production dropped 60 percent between 2022 and 2023. “Since then we’ve seen a number of brands put their anti-fur policies in place, so we expect to see progress in that statistic,” she adds.

Two key elements will further this progress, starting with the governing bodies of fashion weeks in Paris and Milan also signing on for similar bans to align with some of their high-profile houses — in 2018, Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier and Versace each banned fur in their respective designs. But what will surely make a more impactful statement is when the cadre of high-profile stars, reportedly still wearing real fur and parading it on Instagram, likewise publicize decisions to step back and eschew real fur in favor of faux.

Make no mistake: proponents of anti-fur initiatives are noticing. “I love you Kim but I hope those furs are not real” a follower replied to Kim Kardashian when she posted herself in a belted fur coat on a Paris balcony on Oct. 7, while a Sept. 5 Instagram posted by Rihanna, featuring the star in a fur coat and also shot on a balcony, drew replies that included “you would look even more stunning without the fur.” On June 24, the International Fur Federation posted its own Instagram of Beyoncé onstage during the Paris leg of her Cowboy Carter tour wearing what the trade group described as a “natural fox fur coat.” Based in London, the IFF continues to promote the use of fur in fashion and showcases stars allegedly wearing genuine fur at various events.

Finland-based Saga Furs takes that idea a step further, offering sponsorship support to designers that in the past have included LaQuan Smith, Romeo Hunte and Vivienne Hu. “Trade-industry groups like Saga Furs are still doing everything they can to bribe young, cash-strapped designers to include fur in their designs,” Byrne says. “But most major brands have dropped it, and consumers, especially younger consumers, have made it clear that they want nothing to do with wearing real fur.”

Byrne is quick to give many of today’s most popular stars the benefit of the doubt, noting that in some cases they could be wearing faux fur, which indeed has made great strides to look genuine in recent years. But she also uses the opportunity to start a dialogue. “If we see a celebrity photographed wearing real fur, we always reach out politely with information about fur-farming practices and why most people choose not to wear it,” she explains. “We’ve had instances of celebrities receiving these letters and deciding not to wear real fur going forward. We also know that for every celebrity who is still wearing dead animal fur, there are a dozen who won’t touch it.”

Meanwhile, the challenge to convert those still wearing real fur continues. Byrne knows that work is never easy, and here may be some additional proof: In the past 24 hours, The Hollywood Reporter reached out to a variety of representatives and stylists of stars, as well as designers known for wearing or using genuine fur. All either declined to respond or have not responded to requests for comment.

This story will be updated to include any statements from stars, stylists and designers contacted.