PETA Awards Balenciaga Lunaform Coat Best Luxury Product of 2023

LONDON — PETA has revealed the winners of its annual PETA Fashion Awards, recognizing brands the animal rights activist group felt made a tangible effort to reduce animal cruelty and improve sustainability in 2023.

“Our fashion awards are a celebration of designers and brands making progress for animals — and we hope they inspire other companies to make changes, too,” said PETA’s vice president of corporate projects Yvonne Taylor.

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There was one brand that didn’t fare so well: Woolmark was awarded Villain of the Year “for its greenwashing and misleading promotion of wool,” PETA claimed in a statement.

Only a few days after holding its fall 2024 runway show in Los Angeles, Balenciaga was awarded the best luxury product for the brand’s usage of Lunaform, a sustainable material that is plastic and animal-free, used to make its maxi bathrobe coat from summer 2024.

It’s more good news for the brand, whose chief executive officer recently spoke to WWD about how the label has navigated back to the limelight after being mired in controversy at the end of 2022 over an advertising campaign that critics claimed promoted the exploitation of children.

Isabel Marant took home the prize of best luxury moment for its ban on using fur, angora and exotic skins. Gucci won the best vegan bag prize for its Demetra Horsebit 1955, which was endorsed by Billie Eilish, who appeared in the bag’s promotional campaign in October.

Ganni was named trendsetter of the year for crafting a jacket made from bacteria, created in collaboration with biomaterial manufacturer Polybion as well as for its work with plant leather manufacturer Ohoskin. Both were a part of Ganni’s Fabrics of the Future initiative, which is dedicated to pioneering environmentally friendly materials.

Citing Ryan Gosling wearing a pair of vegan boots from Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather, PETA gave the best movie moment to “Barbie,” while the best high-street fashion moment went to French fashion group SMCP for banning down and other feathers.

Other winners include MoEa, which won best vegan shoes for its sneakers made from plant leather; Bananatex received innovation of the year for its polyester alternative derived from bananas; Blue District’s bamboo ostrich feathers were named best vegan feathers, and the best menswear award went to Christian MacLeod.

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