On December 3, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced that it will fully prohibit the use of animal fur at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) beginning September 2026. The policy extends beyond the official schedule to all CFDA platforms, including the Fashion Calendar, social media channels, and its official website.
The announcement follows the CFDA’s ongoing collaboration with Humane World for Animals and Collective Fashion Justice. Under the new policy, brands featured on the Official NYFW Schedule will no longer be allowed to include animal fur in their collections, starting with the September 2026 season.
The ban applies to fur sourced from animals bred or trapped specifically for their pelts, including mink, fox, rabbit, karakul lamb, chinchilla, coyote, and raccoon dog. The only exception is fur obtained by Indigenous communities through traditional subsistence hunting practices.
To support designers through this transition, the CFDA will provide educational resources and access to a material library featuring innovative alternative materials.
CFDA CEO Steven Kolb stated, “There is already little to no fur shown at NYFW, but by taking this position, the CFDA hopes to inspire American designers to think more deeply about the fashion industry’s impact on animals. Consumers are moving away from products associated with animal cruelty, and we want to position American fashion as a leader on those fronts, while also driving material innovation.”
A Global Shift Toward Fur-Free Fashion
The CFDA’s decision aligns New York with other major fashion capitals—led by London, and including Copenhagen, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Melbourne—that have already banned the use and promotion of animal fur in their fashion weeks.
This year, major media groups have also accelerated the shift. Condé Nast—publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Glamour—banned animal fur across its editorial and advertising content, following earlier moves by ELLE, InStyle, and Harper’s Bazaar. The momentum behind fur-free fashion continues to grow worldwide.
Emma Håkansson, founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, praised the announcement: “The CFDA has further cemented its position as a leading, innovative fashion council on the global stage by formally moving beyond unethical and unsustainable animal fur.”
PJ Smith of Humane World for Animals also commented, “We applaud the CFDA for using its unique influence on American fashion to help usher in a fur-free future. It’s policies like this that are paving the way for material innovation that will create a cleaner, more humane fashion industry without sacrificing creativity and beauty.”
With this official policy shift, the American fashion industry takes a decisive step toward aligning with global standards that prioritize sustainability and ethics. From September 2026 onward, NYFW is expected to become an even more important stage where a brand’s values are revealed through its material choices.
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