Alan Cumming Rebels Against Cruel, Outdated Animal Skins
“You can be sexy and powerful wearing vegan leather. I’ve done it. It’s so much cooler to be a rebel with a cause”
– Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming’s new PETA ads are putting a sexy vegan twist on the iconic image of Marlon Brando in The Wild One—this time, featuring Cumming as the alluring outlaw rebelling against cruel, outdated animal skins. In the shot, the Emmy Award-winning host of the hit reality show The Traitors (US) wears a cactus leather jacket by All Saints, vegan leather Dr. Martens boots, and a vegan leather cap while leaning against a vintage Triumph motorcycle and urging viewers to only wear leather made from plants.
In a video for PETA US, he explains, “[t]he dairy and meat industry is incredibly damaging to our planet and to the well-being of animals. There’s loads of plant-based materials that are available today in clothes of all sorts, so there’s absolutely no need to be wearing leather.”
What’s Wrong with Leather
Most animal skins used for jackets, shoes, and other clothing come from cows raised for beef or milk, and buying leather made from cows’ skin directly fuels factory farming.
Cows have friends and mourn when a loved one dies, but those killed for leather may be skinned and dismembered while still conscious—after they’ve endured castration (for males), branding, and tail docking, often without painkillers.
In addition to the horrific cruelty that the leather industry inflicts on animals, it’s a major contributor to climate change, land devastation, deforestation, water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. As Aussies worry about drought again this summer, a single cow used for dairy guzzles up to 250 litres of water, and our drought-prone nation is attempting to sustain more than two million of them. That’s in addition to 30 million cows and bulls bred for beef.
Sustainable vegan leathers—including those made from apple peels, pineapple leaves, cork, mushrooms, and other plant materials—are just as durable and fashionable without the cruelty or environmental destruction of leather.
Please, for animals’ sake, always check the label. If it’s cow leather leave the item on the shelf and choose plant-based alternatives instead.
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