3 min readNew DelhiSep 28, 2024 01:25 PM IST
First published on: Sep 28, 2024 at 01:25 PM IST
During a Dior show in Paris, PETA France activist Natasha Garnier stormed the runway to protest the fashion house’s support of animal cruelty. The Bengaluru-born activist wore a faux-feather dress and carried a sign that read, “F**k Feathers!” as she marched down the ramp with purpose. This comes after Lady Gaga made a recent appearance at the 2024 Paris Olympics wearing a Dior dress made of ostrich feathers.
The PETA campaign ambassador, later, made an Instagram post with the caption, “Crashed the Christian Dior show at Paris Fashion Week to speak up for the birds killed for their feathers in the name of fashion. Feathers are not fashionable, nor are leather, wool, fur, silk. All animal-derived materials are a product of cruelty and death. WEAR VEGAN.”
A few days ago, a similar protest was staged at the UK’s Burberry show in London, where PETA entity supporters disrupted the models and took over the runway. They have also done the same at Milan, New York and Paris Fashion Weeks. PETA has also collaborated with designer Stella McCartney to call out fashion houses and encourage designers globally to pledge against using animal feathers as a part of their collections and clothing lines.
According to a PETA India blogpost, Garnier was born in Bengaluru and grew up in Muscat, Oman. “She returned to Bengaluru to complete her bachelor’s degree at Mount Carmel College, where she majored in French, communications, and sociology. When she moved to France for her master’s degree, she decided to go vegan after adopting a dog, Sandy. Sandy helped her understand that there’s no difference between the animals we call friends and those we kill to eat,” read the website.
While Dior claims the feathers they use come from natural moulting, PETA India disputed this in their article, stating: “Selling moulted feathers is not a viable business model to supply designers with the volume of feathers they demand – and whenever parts of animals are used in the fashion industry, corners are cut and abuse is commonplace.”
Previously, actor Adah Sharma had joined hands with PETA India to spread awareness against leather cruelty. The campaign called attention to the fact that more than 1.4 billion cows, sheep, and goats along with millions of other animals were killed every year for the toxic leather industry and urged people to steer clear of the violently obtained material.
Natasha Garnier took to the Dior runway to protest against the fashion house's use of animal feathers. (Source: @OfficialPETAIndia/Instagram) 
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