In a particular set of coincidences, 2025 saw both the return of the ‘natural fur’ aesthetic and an unprecedented accumulation of fur-related bans.
The ‘natural fur’ aesthetic on FW25-26 runways back in January and February 2025 triggered heated debates across the globe. By 2025, the showcasing—and therefore the wearing—of real fur was already widely regarded as, at best, a questionable practice. Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Prada, Burberry, and Chanel—industry trend-setters—had committed to going entirely fur-free as early as 1994 in the case of Calvin Klein, with a surge of fur-free commitments occurring after 2015.
A small number of brands within the luxury segment—most notably Fendi and Yves Salomon—continue to insist on using real fur. However, the sustained drop in both demand and market value—from a peak of USD 14.7 billion in 2013 to approximately USD 3.4 billion in 2023, according to The Business of Fashion—clearly indicates that real fur as an industry is in structural decline.
Faux fur has therefore come to be widely accepted as a reasonable alternative, with genuinely promising developments emerging in innovative, low-impact substitutes to fuel-derived synthetics. These alternatives are now gaining visibility and traction beyond specialist textile-industry circles. However, what proved particularly confusing about the FW25–26 trends, was the deliberate effort to make faux fur closely resemble real fur in both colour and shape. In addition, vintage—or recycled—real fur appeared both on runways (Alectra Rothschild) and within fashion-week street style. And, on top of all of it, reports of young consumers ‘wanting fur’—whether real or faux—as a fashion item are deeply troubling.
It is for these reasons that we welcomed the wave of fur-farming, import, and promotion bans introduced throughout the remainder of 2025. Here’s the whole picture of where the global fashion industry stands as 2025 draws to a close.
Fur-Farming Bans and Significant Developments
In Central Europe, Poland—the world’s second-largest fur producer after China and the largest in Europe—introduced new legislation on 2 December 2025 banning the establishment of new fur-animal farms, including those breeding mink, foxes, and raccoon dogs. Existing farms are required to cease operations by 31 December 2033, with financial incentives available for operators who close earlier.
Rabbits, however, have been excluded from the ban, leaving an obvious and deeply concerning loophole. The official justification is that rabbits are primarily farmed for meat rather than fur; this classification is why Poland is listed among the countries with a ‘full’ fur-farming ban. At Vegan Fashion Repository, we remain deeply concerned that, despite the global decline in demand for real fur, the remaining demand—and the increasing unviability of fur-animal farming—could drive a sharp rise in rabbit farming. Rabbit fur has long been considered a cheap alternative to mink and fox; a simple search for fur stoles from the 1940s shows that it was commonly used to mimic more expensive pelts during wartime clothing rationing. This concern is only heightened by the recent hype for ‘natural fur’ aesthetics.
In Bulgaria, the country’s last mink farm closed in January 2025. Following a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), published on the court’s website, the Ministry of Environment and Water’s (MoEW) 2022 decision prohibiting the import and breeding of American mink was definitively upheld in August 2025.
In Switzerland, the Federal Council passed legislation in June 2025 restricting the import of fur products derived through animal cruelty.
In Scandinavia, Norway’s last fur farms closed on 28 February 2025. In Sweden, the final remaining mink farms also ceased operations in 2025, although a formal nationwide ban remains under discussion.
In India, following a hearing presented by PETA India on the extreme suffering endured by reptiles killed for leather goods, India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification in February 2025 prohibiting the import of reptile skins, as well as fur from chinchillas, mink, and foxes.
As of 31 December 2025, 20 countries worldwide have fully banned fur farming: Austria (2005), Belgium (2023), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2028), Bulgaria (2022), Croatia (2017), the Czech Republic (2019), France (2021), Guernsey (2024), Ireland (2022), Italy (2022), Luxembourg (2018), Malta (2022), the Netherlands (2021), North Macedonia (2014), Norway (2025), Poland (2034), Serbia (2019), Slovakia (2025), Slovenia (2015), and the UK (2003). Countries with restricted fur farming (partial legislation) include Denmark, Hungary, Japan, and New Zealand. Countries where fur farming has been phased out include Germany and Switzerland.
We are also awaiting the European Commission’s official communication on a potential EU-wide ban on fur farming and the fur trade, expected in March 2026. This would conclude the process initiated in March 2022, when the Commission registered Fur Free Europe, a European Citizens’ Initiative calling for a ban on the keeping and killing of animals for fur production, as well as the placing of farmed fur and fur products on the EU market. By June 2023, the initiative had gathered over 1.5 million valid signatures across 18 Member States and was formally submitted to the Commission. Since then, on-site inspections, surveys and assessments have been conducted. Taking into account the EFSA opinion and its own findings, the Commission will decide by March 2026 whether to propose, following a transition period, a ban on fur farming and fur products, or to introduce stricter EU-wide welfare standards instead.
Ban on Promoting Real Fur
Considering that some of the largest advertisers in the publishing industry—most notably luxury groups such as LVMH and Fendi—continue to use real fur in their collections, the announcements made by Condé Nast (Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, among others) in October 2025, and by Hearst Magazines (Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, among others) in December 2025, to stop promoting real fur across all titles represent a significant and impressive milestone.
In a similar move, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced in December 2025 that real fur will no longer be showcased on its official schedule from September 2026 onwards. New York thus joins a growing group of fashion capitals banning the promotion of natural fur on their official schedules—a movement initiated by London (2018) and followed by Amsterdam (2019), Helsinki (2019), Stockholm (2020), Copenhagen (2022), Berlin (2026), and Melbourne (2018).
Historically, anti-fur activism—focused on ending animal abuse and killing for fur within the fashion industry—has proven remarkably effective. From the first protests in the mid-1980s organised by Trans Species Unlimited (TSU) and the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT), the movement has progressed from ridicule and arrests for non-violent protest to widespread institutional and legislative change.
With 20 countries now officially banning fur farming, others implementing phased or partial bans, and the fashion publishing industry responding proactively, there is renewed optimism that what once seemed impossible may continue to gain systemic support. In 2025, the British Fashion Council extended its fur ban at London Fashion Week to include skins from wild animals, such as reptiles and ostriches, while the organisations behind Amsterdam Fashion Week also introduced bans on wildlife skins and, notably, feathers.
While the non-exotic animal leather industry continues to benefit from entrenched global supply-and-demand structures, these small yet meaningful victories offer a tangible sense of hope for an increasingly cruelty-free fashion future.
At the Vegan Fashion Repository, we will continue to track these developments closely and, we hope, contribute in some small way to this progress.
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Further Reading (in alphabetic order):
Katharina Buchholz, Global Fur Production in Drastic Decline, at Statista
European Commission: ECI ‘Fur Free Europe’
Vanessa Friedman, Designers Really Want Us to Wear Fur. Or Something Like It, at New York Times
Sarah Kent, Fur Industry Faces Challenges with Elevation Strategy and LVMH Support, at The Business of Fashion
Amy Odell, How the Fur Issue Got So Confused, at Amy Odell
The History of Fur-Free Friday, at Last Chance For Animals
