PETA Menswear Awards 2018

The PETA Menswear Fashion Awards celebrate the biggest moments, greatest innovations, and standout brands that made 2018 a kinder year for animals and the environment. Burberry, Hugo Boss and Asos are some of the winners of this edition. What did they do to win? Keep on reading. 

Burberry got the Biggest Luxury Fashion Moment. In a monumental victory for vegan fashion, this year, Burberry announced that it would no longer use real fur or angora in its collections – following investigations showing neglected animals in small, filthy cages in the fur industry and rabbits whose hair was ripped out for angora. ASOS has won the Most Progressive Online Platform Award. This year, global online fashion retailer ASOS announced groundbreaking updates to its animal-welfare policy: starting from 2019, it will ban the sale of all items containing mohair, cashmere, feathers, or silk across its entire platform – including the 850-plus brands that sell via its websites. This compassionate move by such a high-profile name sets a new standard for animal-friendly retailers everywhere. Hugo Boss, which recently committed to banning fur from all future collections, has also launched a line of shoes in Piñatex, the pineapple-leaf fibre that is revolutionising the footwear and accessories industry. The eco-friendly plant leather is biodegradable and entirely animal-free, making this limited-edition range a truly ethical choice. Ecopel has won the Innovation Award. In response to the fur industry’s absurd claims that the chemical-laden pelts of intensively farmed animals are “green” and “eco-friendly”, leading faux-fur manufacturer, Ecopel has created a system at its mills in Asia to collect used plastic bottles and give them new life in the form of a truly eco-friendly fur. As well, the innovative vegan menswear label Brave GentleMan partnered with actor and animal advocate Alan Cumming for an exclusive lookbook featured in Vogue showcasing the entirely vegan designs that the brand offers the conscious and contemporary man. This action has won the Collaboration Award. 

Other winners are Napapijri, Best Down-Free Brand. The Italian outerwear brand recently stopped using cruelly obtained down and feathers in its high-tech jackets, opting instead for Thermo-Fibre insulating padding, which is made from air-trapping microspheres that create a quilted texture for a lightweight, durable garment. HeartCure has won the Best Style With a Message. This non-profit fashion brand was created to raise funds for an animal sanctuary – but has grown into a mission-driven label whose strong statements, such as “Stand for Something” and “Vegan for Life”, have earned it a dedicated following. It also has a programme to reuse and recycle old clothing. Will's Vegan Shoes has won the Best Vegan Accessories Award. Once a footwear-only label, Will’s Vegan Shoes now offers a range of bags, belts, wallets, and shoes for men, women, and children – all made without a scrap of animal skin. The brand is also certified as carbon-neutral, making it an eco-friendly choice as well as a compassionate one. King & Allen got the Best Vegan Suits Award. Crafting its elegant suits from velvet, linen, cotton, and bamboo, King & Allen offers bespoke, high-end formalwear options that are free from the cruelty and environmental impact of wool and silk. Its tailor-made designs are available in a variety of colours and patterns for the man who wants to dress with sophistication and conscience. Fjordson won the Best Vegan Watches. This “PETA-Approved Vegan” brand offers vegan leather straps for its high-quality Swiss-made watches. In line with its compassionate values, the company also donates 5 per cent of its turnover to the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Belgium.

+ info: PETA