Animal rights association People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has announced the 2023 winners of its eagerly awaited Vegan Fashion Awards.

French label Isabel Marant was recognised for a triple step forward in favour of animals, after it confirmed it is no longer using fur, angora and exotic skins in its collections. 

Balenciaga was recognised for the best luxury product, for its coat made with a new kind of vegetable leather called Lunaform, a bio-material never used in fashion before, developed specifically for Balenciaga by San Francisco-based start-up Gozen. Lunaform is derived from nano cellulose by means of a fermentation process, resulting in a “vegan and GMO-free [material] whose robustness, natural drape and softness are distinctive elements compared to existing alternatives,” said Gozen.

The SMCP fashion group was recognised for the best high-street fashion moment, following its decision to stop using down and other feathers, while the award for trendsetter of the year went to Ganni, for its 100% vegan handbag made with Ohoskin, a material derived from orange and cactus waste, and its jacket made from bacterial cellulose membrane, created in collaboration with materials technology company Polybion.

The award for the best vegan handbag went to Gucci for its Demetra Horsebit 1955 model, made using the label’s exclusive leather alternative and promoted via an ad campaign featuring Billie Eilish.

“Between luxury vegan leather creations and the many labels committing to no longer using fur, angora and feathers, these decisions and innovations show that fashion has really entered a vegan era,” said James Fraser, in charge of relations with fashion labels at PETA France. “With these awards, [PETA] is celebrating designers and brands that help put an end to cruelty to animals and make vegan fashion a catwalk statement,” he added.

Actor Ryan Gosling, in his role as Ken in the hit film Barbie, won the award for the best movie moment, strolling around in a pair of vegan cowboy boots by French brand Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather.

French sneaker brand MoEa won the award for best vegan sneakers, for its urban models in vegetable leather. The innovation of the year award went to materials manufacturer Bananatex, for its performance fabric in biodegradable natural cellulose, made using fibres derived from banana plants.

High-end faux leather producer Ecopel won the prize for the most impressive feathers, made using an innovative material that replicates the elegance and lightness of bird feathers, minus the cruelty.

The award for men’s fashion went to Parisian label True Tribe Paris, for its sportswear and outerwear made from discarded fishing nets and other plastic waste. Long-established brand Aigle was recognised for the best down-free padded jackets, for its models made using corn glucose and recycled polyester, that keep the wearer warm in temperatures as low as -25°C, while Laulhère’s vegan beret was crowned headgear of the year.

Last but not least, the LVMH group was named villain of the year for its continued use of exotic skins sourced at the cost of huge animal suffering, as revealed by PETA following a number of investigations.

PETA, whose motto declares that “animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way,” and which opposes speciesism, an ideology that postulates the false superiority of humans over other animals, has underlined that, every year, more than a billion animals are slaughtered by the leather industry worldwide.

The association has regularly highlighted various instances of animal abuse. For example, crocodiles are raised in captivity in overcrowded basins before being clubbed to death and skinned, while snakes are literally swollen to death for their skins. Sheep that are reared for wool are mutilated and ravaged when sheared, and afterwards often killed.

Again according to PETA animals trapped in fur farms spend their entire lives confined in cramped, unsanitary metal cages, before being killed in the most horrific ways. Goats are shorn for cashmere in the most violent fashion – a practice that also causes deforestation – while birds are usually plucked alive for down feathers.

PETA has created its fashion awards in order to raise awareness among the general public for the causes it is fighting for, and its websites feature shocking videos on the practices it denounces.