2/3 - To no longer endorse the cruelties inflicted on animals through our purchases, Anissa Putois, representative of the association PETA France (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), enlightens us on the fashion materials based on their exploitation. In this second part of her interview: focus on leather.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

Le Boudoir Numérique: In the first part of your interview (read here), you detailed the harmful impact of wool production on the environment and on sentient beings. What about leather?

Anissa Putois, senior communications officer at PETA France: According to the Pulse of the Fashion Industry report, leather is the number one polluting material in fashion, even more polluting than wool. Leather is often cited as a by-product of the meat industry, when in fact it is a very lucrative co-product that subsidizes cattle ranching and the cruelty associated with meat production. This industry is doubly polluting, since the breeding of cattle produces a lot of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. But also because the skins are treated, like wool, with dangerous chemicals to prevent them from rotting. Investigations carried out by PETA in Bangladesh show young children in tanneries walking barefoot in the toxic fumes of chromium (a tanning agent, AN), which can lead to skin diseases, respiratory disorders and cancer. Spilled into waterways, these harmful substances also seriously affect local populations.

As recalled in the report of the research group of the environmental organization Stand.earth of November 29, 2021, cattle breeding for food and leather "is the single largest driver of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and of tropical forests globally”. The Stand.earth Reasearch Group clearly establishes a link between fashion brands that source Brazilian leather, 80% of which is exported, and the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, which is considered essential in the fight against global warming. Do you think that fashion labels and luxury houses are fully taking the mesure of the role leather plays in destroying the environment?

Brands are starting to realize this link between fashion materials and deforestation, pollution of waterways, etc. Unfortunately not yet for wool, but certainly for leather. Especially with the forest fires in the Amazon in 2019, when all eyes in the world have turned to this part of our planet, destroyed every day a little more for soybean cultivation and the pastures for cattle. For instance, when François-Henri Pinault commented on Kering's decision to give up fur (in an interview of the CEO of this luxury group on France 2, on September 24, 2021, see the video here, AN), he also mentioned the impact of leather on the environment, evoking Kering's intention to no longer source Brazilian leather linked to deforestation in the Amazon.

A reason often presented in favor of the use of leather in fashion is that it is a residue from the meat industry which, if not consumed, would be thrown away and therefore wasted. Does this argument hold?

No. Of course, in Europe, no animal is killed just for leather. Leather comes from animals bred for their meat. With that clarification made, as I said, leather is not a by-product of the meat industry, a waste that would be thrown away, if not used. It is indeed a co-product, because the fact that the leather can be sold subsidizes animal husbandry and directly benefits the meat industry. Leather and meat are two industries that help each other to continue their businesses by exploiting animals and polluting the environment. 

And outside of Europe?

There are countries where animals are raised and killed only for their skin. For example, Indian cows that have to walk for miles and miles to Bangladesh, when they cannot be slaughtered in India, are killed only for their skin. However, in the current state of trade and fashion materials traceability, you never know where a skin comes from. Thus, an article made in France or made in Italy could have been sewn in France or in Italy but the leather which composes it could come from India, Bangladesh or any country where the cattle are raised only for their skin. And these leathers still end up on our shelves, in items that are sold here.

So, what to say to this person who recently told me: "The leather I wear on my shoes comes from the cow I eat on my plate"?

That things are not that simple, far from it. We are no longer in a very local mode of production, as it may have existed before. Today everything is mixed up, impossible to know where things and materials come from, because with globalization, leathers can be very cheap but coming from China, Brazil or elsewhere.

Hence the need to improve the traceability of materials, thanks to the innovations that are increasingly developing in fashion...

Yes, this is very important even though, in our opinion, the easiest way to really know that what you are wearing is environmentally friendly and ethical is not to wear animal materials.

On November 29, PETA USA launched the parodic website Urban Outraged featuring fashion items made from human-based materials, as part of its global campaign calling on US company Urban Outfitters to stop using animal-derived materials. How was this awareness-raising action received?

There have been all kinds of responses to this campaign. But whether the reactions are positive or negative, I think people have grasped the very dark humor of Urban Outraged which made them question themselves: if the idea of ​​wearing human skin shocks me, if that disgusts me, why would it be acceptable to do the same to cows, pigs, lambs, when they have their own identity and sensitivity? If I wouldn't wear the skin of a human being, why wear the skin of a cow with which I could relate emotionally as I would with a human? The message that aims to make them reflect on the ideology postulating a false superiority of humans over other animals to justify their exploitation has well gone throught with this campaign.

* The last part of Anissa Putois’ interview will soon be available on Le Boudoir Numérique. 

 * Read the first part of Anissa Putois’ interview : "With wool, we are very far from the idyllic image of a sheep gently shorn in a meadow". 

* Find the Boudoir Numérique's special file on vegan fashion and beauty here.