PETA's New Target: "Pinocchio Armani"

Now that PETA got their most recent target, Donna Karan, to vow not to use fur, they've turned all their attention to Giorgio Armani. The organization took a full-page ad out in theVariety depicting Armani with an elongated nose, urging Oscar attendees to shun Armani's designs on the red carpet, since the designer apparently broke a promise to avoid using fur.

A year ago, Armani told reporters before showing his Armani Prive collection: "There is no fur in the collection. Many years ago I actually made a declaration that I wouldn’t use fur. I used some fur in some recent collections, and the organization PETA, whom most of you are familiar with, discussed this particular issue, and presented some information to me and I'm not using fur in my collection."

PETA's new ad charges that Armani's latest collections "include fur-trimmed skirts and coats, as well as jackets and even snowsuits for toddlers trimmed with rabbit fur." In addition to the ad, the organization has written to all Oscar nominees, urging them to wear a designer like Stella McCartney or Vivienne Westwood, both of which are fur-free.

"We've met with Armani in the past, and he seems far more concerned with dressing Hollywood than with protests," PETA vice president Dan Mathews said. "So we're taking it to where he's most vulnerable. No designer cozies up to celebrities the way Armani does, and there's no organization that courts celebrities the way PETA does. So now it's war on the red carpet."

An Armani representative had no comment, since Armani had not yet seen the ad.
-Chloé van der Wel

Photo courtesy of PETA