Zack Polanski AM puts animal welfare at centre of Mayor’s Question Time

Created on

12 September 2024

Zack Polanski AM puts animal welfare at centre of Mayor's Question Time

As London Fashion Week begins tomorrow, Zack Polanski AM questioned London's Mayor over his failure to ensure public funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA) was not supporting fashion that exploited and/or harmed animals.

Following a December 2023 decision, fur is banned from the runways of London Fashion Week, but the event has failed to extend similar bans to exotic skins (such as amphibians and reptiles) or feathers, despite the clear evidence of animal cruelty involved in their production. [1]

Green Party London Assembly Member Zack Polanski said:

"Exotic skins used in fashion are linked to immense suffering. Snakes can be nailed to trees, crocodiles are kept in claustrophobic tanks, and animals are having their skins ripped from them whilst they are still alive. This is not acceptable.

"The GLA has given over £600,000 per year for the past few years to London Fashion Week, yet I can't find any reference to animal welfare in that funding agreement. I gave the Mayor a chance to explain this shortcoming, and he has now agreed to look at this gap.

"By the time we host next year's Fashion Week, my sincere hope is our Mayor will have changed his mind and taken a stand against supporting animal cruelty with public funds."

Notes to editors

[1] British Fashion Council Finally Bans Fur!