Who carried it best? Kim Kardashian & Victoria Beckham with their silver crocodile Birkin bags from Hermés
Not for ladies only… Marc Jacobs with his luggage-sized Birkin
Yesterday we reported that actress Jane Birkin had asked Hermés to remove her name from their iconic handbag following PETA’s report, which exposed animal cruely in the production of their bag. The French fashion house has responded and denied that the farm belongs to them, or that the skins are used to make their bags.
“An investigation is underway at the Texas farm which was implicated in the video. Any breach of rules will be rectified and sanctioned.”
Hermès imposes on its partners the highest standards in the ethical treatment of crocodiles. For more than 10 years, we have organised monthly visits to our suppliers.
We control their practices and their conformity with slaughter standards established by veterinary experts and by the Fish and Wildlife Service (a federal American organisation for the protection of nature) and with the rules established under the aegis of the Uno, by the Washington Convention of 1973 which defines the protection of endangered species.”
The label also said that its relationship with Birkin the actress –not the bag– remains the same.
“Her [Birkin’s] comments do not in any way influence the friendship and confidence that we have shared for many years. Hermès respects and shares her emotions and was also shocked by the images recently broadcast.”
Following the plea, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk thanked Birkin “for ending her association with Hermès, which makes grotesque handbags”;
“We call on Hermès to stop plundering wildlife, factory-farming crocodiles and alligators and slaughtering them for their skins. Once, Birkin bags marked people as celebrities or at least members of the super-rich, but soon, no one will want to be caught dead carrying one, and animal advocates will then breathe a sigh of relief.”
This most recent media firestorm just calls out the fact that we ALL participate in cruel practices unknowingly by just eating a hamburger or buying products that are tested on animals we would never harm ourselves. The outcry against the jackass dentist that shot and killed Cecil the lion, for $50,000, has been incredible but it also highlights the hypocrisy of our modern lives. We are selectively kind and we need to take some responsibility for our actions. If “all men are created equal”, it might stand that all animals are created that way too –not just the ones we deem to be regal, endangered or cute.
Jane Birkin with her namesake Hermés bag in happier times…
(via The Independent)
The post #Controversy: Hermés Responds To Jane Birkin After She Asks Them To Remove Her Name From Their Iconic Bag appeared first on World of Wonder.