UNIC doesn't mince its words: Stella, think about your “sustainability” - LaConceria

The clash necessarily rises in tone, because in front of the lividity of the umpteenth declaration of Stella McCartney against leather, and in favour of the presumed sustainability of her animal free fashion, it is impossible to keep quiet. Thus, UNIC – Italian Tanneries reiterates its positions and does send a message to the designer daughter of Paul McCartney. “Stella McCartney can keep on making her plastic bags, but should leave us alone. We have been suffering from her attacks for years. Enough is enough”, says Fulvia Bacchi, director of the Italian tanners’ association (a member of Confindustria Moda), in an interview published on La Repubblica. And that’s not all, since UNIC’s reaction also found space in other newspapers (Quotidiano Nazionale, Il Tirreno, Il Mattino di Padova) and on the radio, taken up in this morning’s Radio 24 Press Review.

Would this be the ‘Future of Fashion’?

In the arrogance of her extremist arguments, Stella McCartney burst into COP26, underway in Glasgow until November 12, drawing attention to herself with an exhibition (photos left and right, from Instagram) entitled “The Future of Fashion”. A “Future” which, ça va sans dire, is her own and that of her products made from green materials (according to her, of course…). Her umpteenth barrage of offensive outrages can be summed up as follows.

First, she invited COP26 delegates and the public to sign a petition to end the use of leather and fur in fashion. Second, she once again blurted out that “we need to let people know that hundreds of millions of animals are killed every year for fashion, for leather, for skins and for animal glues”. Third, she says that “younger generations are less willing to wear animal products” and “that they will not accept to buy bad fashion, evil fashion, dirty fashion”.

UNIC doesn’t mince its words

Stating the obvious seems like a waste of time, but we are realising that it is a necessary urgency. Fulvia Bacchi explains in La Repubblica that “these animals are slaughtered for the meat industry. If those leathers were not recovered, what would happen to them? There are billions of animals slaughtered every year. The leathers would have to end up burnt or in landfills. With what impact on the environment?” What the columnist calls the “complete reconversion” of leather-free fashion is thus defined as “out of all logic. I hope people will see through this bluff. (…) I believe that marketing and communication give the wrong perspective. We are very confident about the future of leather”.

Answer this question, Stella

The question we have to ask you, Stella, is a very simple one: by not using the hide (this is a legitimate choice, no one is disputing it), how many cattle, sheep and goats have you saved from slaughter? We know the answer: none, zero, because they are not bred for that. And we are absolutely certain that you are fully aware of this too. Just as you are aware that admitting this would bring down your entire media and marketing house of cards.

A note

Finally, a note seems necessary and concerns Prince Charles of England. Last week, during COP26, he made us rejoice, expressing the hope that “people will know the value” of leather produced ethically according to the principles of “circular economy”. But then, by virtue of the green project he founded (SMI, an acronym for Sustainable Markets Initiative), he also certified the Stella McCartney exhibition (centre, in the Shutterstock photo) with his presence and appreciation. This seems to us to be a rather dangerous schizophrenia because, in the name of the green crusade, it creates a constant dynamic of misinformation that does nothing to distinguish between those who do marketing, spew accusations and make judgments without logic and those who, instead, get their hands dirty every day to continuously improve their sustainable identity. But all this, as we sadly know, is not news.

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