PETA seeks to pressure LVMH via IOC ahead of Paris Olympics

FUR FLIES: In its ongoing effort to get fashion brands to stop using exotic fur and skins, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is turning to the International Olympic Committee for support ahead of the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

In a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach on Monday, the animal rights group's vice-chair for the UK, Europe and Australia, Mimi Bekhechi, urged the committee to “only accept sponsorship from LVMH or any other fashion company if they agree to stop selling exotic fur and skins,” citing these materials as sources of risk for future pandemics.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were postponed to July 2021 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics were held behind closed doors, with little or no spectators.

Although LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton supported Paris' bid in 2016 to host the next Summer Olympics, no sponsorship agreement has been announced between the committee in charge of organizing the Games in Paris and the luxury group. Confirmed sponsors of the 2024 Olympics include state-owned bank BPCE, retailer Carrefour and telecommunications company Orange.

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Bekhechi said the COVID-19 virus had “spread like wildfire” in fur farms, where cramped conditions “had accelerated the spread [of the virus] to humans and animals wild,” including “a dangerous mutation that threatened the effectiveness of vaccines.”

She further alleged that the French luxury conglomerate is "well aware" that the animals are "enduring conditions comparable to those of wet markets in Wuhan, where the COVID-19 pandemic is believed to have originated", and refers to past claims about how workers in LVMH's supply chain killed pythons, according to a PETA Asia investigation.

Quoting fashion houses like Chanel, which in 2018 said they were ending the use of exotic skins, Bekhechi said LVMH "has so far failed to act responsibly and continues to put endangering public health with its mink coats and python bags".< /p>

"It would be unconscionable for the next Olympics to be sponsored by a company that supports these dangerous industries," she continued, calling the proposed requirement "a matter of global social responsibility."

In an email response on Tuesday, an IOC spokesperson said “all Olympic Games organizers must develop and implement a sustainable procurement code,” referring to their counterpart in Paris for exact details on the city's 2024 supply code and trade program.

The IOC requirement, which applies to “all current editions of the Games,” states in a June 2018 document that host cities must “[establish] responsible sourcing practices for goods and services, including those of national sponsors and licensees by integrating sustainability considerations into every step of the procurement process, with mechanisms in place to ensure requirements are effectively met."

The Paris 2024 organizing committee did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

In February, Louis Vuitton reinforced its commitment to using exotic skins in its handbags, with the official inauguration of its last two leather goods workshops in Loir-et-Cher, in central France.