Rick Owens and the Slow Death of Real Fur

On December 15, 2025, Rick Owens made a decision to ban all animal fur from future collections. A quiet pivot with loud implications. The designer committed to a fur-free future, removing mink and beaver pieces from the brand's online store. But what's so fascinating is how this move wasn't born in a corporate boardroom or buried in a press release. Instead, it was catalyzed by a five-day protest campaign led by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT).

Activists staged demonstrations across cities, including London, Los Angeles, and New York, calling out the brand for its historic use of animal-derived materials. And unlike many other top designers faced with similar pressures, Owens actually listened.

If you know Rick Owens, you'd know: his name is synonymous with darkness, transgression, and provocation. He's never been a designer to play it safe. So, for me, his decision to abandon fur doesn't read as a brand move - it reads as a values shift. For decades, fur has been treated as fashion's ultimate luxury signifier: rare, expensive, unquestionable. To remove fur is to challenge the idea that cruelty and exclusivity are prerequisites for beauty. And honestly? I love to see it. 

The abolishing of animal fur from a huge luxury designer brand has me wondering several things. Does this decision highlight a broader industry shift? If something, once deemed as untouchable in the fashion industry, can be phased out, what else might follow? Exotic leathers? Wasteful production cycles? The systems that rely on harm being invisible? 

Because here's the thing, today, younger people (me included), aren't just buying clothes; they're buying into belief systems. Transparency, sustainability, and animal welfare are no longer niche concerns; they're baseline expectations. Faux fur and alternative materials have already evolved so far. And truthfully, the eradication of real animal fur doesn't feel like a hypothetical future anymore. It feels like a slow and steady inevitability. 

Rick Owens' fur ban might not be the end of the conversation, but it certainly feels like a turning point worth paying attention to. I know I'm not the only one who is feeling quietly hopeful for the future of the fashion industry.