PETA lights up Paris with anti-cruelty messages, slams LVMH ahead of Olympic Games

As Paris frantically readies itself to host the Olympic Games 2024 and even preponed its haute couture week, some took the opportunity to shine a light on cruelty, quite literally. Animal rights organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) France projected videos and messages across some of the city’s most iconic landmarks —including the Eiffel Tower, Place Vendôme and the Futur Hôtel Louis Vuitton on the Champs-Élysées.

Target was luxury conglomerate LVMH for still using exotic skins such as those of crocodiles, snakes and ostriches. One such projection was aimed at the attendees of the star-studded Vogue World fashion event on Sunday, including celebrities and fashion designers, among them Pharrell Williams, men’s creative director for LVMH-owned brand Louis Vuitton. 

The projection featured the message “Louis Vuitton: Drop Exotic Skins” and investigation footage of crocodiles being slaughtered, conveying the idea that torturing animals is neither chic nor in keeping with the Olympic values of friendship, respect, excellence and freedom as highlighted this year.

“If extreme cruelty to animals were an Olympic sport, Paris 2024’s premium partner LVMH— the parent company of Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fendi — might just take home a gold medal for selling the skins of violently slaughtered crocodiles, snakes, ostriches and other wild animals,” stated PETA vice president for the UK and Europe Mimi Bekhechi in a press release.

“The world is watching, and consumers should know that the Olympics are being sponsored with blood money. Every time you buy anything made of someone’s skin, you’re funding immense animal suffering,” added Bekhechi.

While some relent, others keep using exotic skins

Over the years, PETA has targeted various luxury brands, among them Burberry, which banned exotic skins in 2022 after a seven-year campaign by the animal rights organisation, which included becoming a shareholder. PVC Corp. banned exotic animal skins in the collections of all its brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and others, in 2020 after PETA urged the company to do so for over a decade. LVMH-owned brand Marc Jacobs announced in May that it would be banning the use of reptile and ostrich skins in its collections.

Louis Vuitton has been warned of a consumer fraud lawsuit a few years ago and PETA conducted various investigations into LVMH’s supply chain.

In the fore field to the Olympic Games, the animal rights organisation called for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to not accept LVMH’s sponsorship unless the company agreed to stop selling fur and exotic skins. In a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach, PETA highlighted how LVMH failed to act responsibly and continued to risk the public’s health with its mink coats and python bags.