‘SLAY’ Exposes Animal Skin Trade In The Fashion Industry

The fashion industry’s greenwashing and animal cruelty are being exposed in a new documentary by the name of SLAY.

SLAY chronicles filmmaker Rebecca Cappelli’s travels across the world to investigate the animal skin trade, produced by Keegan Kuhn (renowned for his work on 2017’s What the Health and Cowspiracy).

Cappelli traveled to Australia, China, India, Europe, the United States, and Brazil to shoot at leather tanneries, fur farms, wool farms, and skin processors. He also collaborated on the 2018 food-focused documentary Let us be Heroes.

“I have spent the last three years investigating animal skins in fashion… They have a damaging impact on the planet, on people, and, of course, on the animals,” Cappelli says in the film’s trailer.

“If someone would have told me even half of what I discovered doing this film, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

Cruel Fashion

Although more companies are prohibiting animal skins (fur bans, in particular, have been popular among luxury labels as public opinion swings against the industry), fashion is still far from being cruelty-free.

Every year, about 2.5 billion animals are sacrificed for fashion, according to the documentary. The leather business employs almost 1.4 billion people. (Leather isn’t just used on cows; it’s also used on pigs, kangaroos, buffalo, alligators, and snakes.)

Cappelli, on the other hand, believes that her video can inspire change.

“Through our collective efforts, films like Cowspiracy and What the Health have had a huge global impact – and we can do this again,” says SLAY’s Indiegogo website, which is hoping to fund nearly £50,000 to promote the film.

“We want this film to reach a mainstream audience to accelerate change thanks to existing solutions.”

Fashion is growing more innovative, and the plant-based leather business, in particular, is gaining traction.

For example, in 2021, Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams collaborated with Coperni to create a line of apple leather purses. Last year, Ganni announced that company will no longer utilize leather in its shoes, instead opting for grape-based leather.

“Selling leather products, although highly profitable, will soon be as outdated as smoking on TV,” stated the brand’s founder Nicolaj Reffstrup at the time.

SLAY is determined to see that forecast realized as soon as possible. To learn more about the initiative and donate to its fundraising, go here.

Source: “New Documentary ‘SLAY’ Exposes Fashion’s Cruel Animal Skin Trade” by Plant Based News

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