Harmless Studio is built on the idea that we are moving toward a cruelty-free future, one in which the human-animal relationship is more just and humane and animals are no longer terrorized, tortured, and violently killed unnecessarily for human use. That hopeful view is supported by emerging ideas and trends.
For example, The Guardian recently published an article titled “The Unstoppable Rise of Veganism, How a Fringe Movement Went Mainstream,” that laid out their analysis of the intersection of drivers behind this movement—namely increasing concern regarding and awareness of (especially among young people) the
animal cruelty, health consequences, and environmental damage associated with animal agriculture and meat.1
The increasing prevalence of veganism has begun to influence spheres far outside of the food world, including personal care, beauty, fashion, furniture, interior design, and even law.
Harper’s Bazaar reported that vegan beauty-related searches were among the top beauty-related Google searches in 2017,2 and online fashion platform Lyst reported that “vegan” was on the top ten list of most searched fashion terms in 2017.3
Fashion brands are also becoming increasingly aware of the problem, with Versace recently announcing they will stop selling fur altogether—joining Armani, Michael Kors, Gucci, Tom Ford and others who have also recently gone fur-free.4
1 Dan Hancox, “The unstoppable rise of veganism: how a fringe movement went mainstream,” The Guardian, April 1, 2018, accessed April 2, 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/apr/01/vegans-are-com-ing-millennials-health-climate-change-animal-welfare
2Emily Thornhill, “Google reveals the most searched beauty trend of 2017 so far,” Harper’s Bazaar, February 23, 2017, accessed on February 23, 2018, https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/skincare/news/a40084/
google-reveals-the-most-searched-beauty-trend-2017-so-far/
3 Simon Fearn, “What are the most searched fashion terms of 2017?” Dazed, December 11, 2017, accessed February 23, 2018, http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/38367/1/what-are-the-more-searched-fashion-terms-of-2017-ugly-vegan-woke-power-lyst
4 Natasha Bach, “San Francisco’s Latest Animal-Friendly Law? Banning Fur Sales,” Fortune, March 21, 2018, accessed March 22, 2018, http://fortune.com/2018/03/21/san-francisco-fur-ban-animal-friendly-law/
Similarly, Tesla Motors recently replaced animal leather in all of its interiors with their popular synthetic option (which CEO Elon Musk has publicly said is his favorite interior material).5
In addition to major changes by established luxury brands like Tesla and Versace, emerging brands like Von Holzhausen and Kat Von D Beauty have have recently announced that their brands are going completely vegan.6,7
Meanwhile, fast fashion juggernauts like Zara and H&M are increasingly investing in and employing sustainable, vegan materials to replace the few non-vegan materials that remain in their lines.8
In response to the increasing demand for and
interest in sustainable, non-animal materials, a number of technology-focused, fashion material companies have emerged that offer innovative alternatives to
conventional animal materials. The most recent example is Bolt Threads, who released a new (and apparently very convincing) mushroom-based leather called Mylo™ in early 2018.9
While vegans are extending their principles to personal care, beauty, and fashion choices, increasingly they are also concerned with the animal harm caused by home goods. Dezeen recently reported on PETA’s new annual award for vegan homeware,10 Quartz published
5 N’dea Yancey-Bragg, “Vegans Rejoice: Tesla quietly goes leather-free,” USA Today, July 27, 2017, accessed De-cember 9, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/07/26/tesla-now-sells-only-its-premium-synthetic-leather-interior/509954001/
6 Zachary Toliver, “Luxury Brand von Holzhausen Bags Leather, Goes Vegan,” PETA, March 5, 2018, accessed on March 22, 2018, https://www.peta.org/living/personal-care-fashion/luxury-brand-von-holzhausen-bags-leather-goes-vegan/
7 Julianne Carell, “Kat Von D Beauty is going completley vegan,” Glamour, July 6, 2016, accessed January 28, 2018, https://www.glamour.com/story/kat-von-d-beauty-is-going-vegan
8 Anna Hirtenstein, “Fast Fashion Goes Green With Mushrooms, Lumber Scraps, and Algae,” Bloomberg, May 1, 2018, accessed May 3, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-01/fast-fashion-goes-green-with-mushrooms-lumber-scraps-and-algae
9 Eillie Anzilotti, “This Very Realistic Fake Leather Is Made From Mushrooms, Not Cows,” Fast Company, April 24, 2018, accessed May 3, 2018,
https://www.fc.com/40562633/this-leather-is-made-from-mushrooms-not-cows
10 Alice Morby, “PETA awards IKEA, Habitat and Heal’s for vegan design,” Dezeen, July 27, 2017, accessed on
a lengthy article about the emergence of vegan furniture and interior designers,11 and even the mainstream real estate site Realtor.com ran an article about how animal materials hide cruelty in all kinds of common home goods.12 In response to this emerging concern, designers can now get certified as vegan interior designers by VeganDesign.org, which I did as part of this project.13
In addition to the boycott-oriented vegan movement, a new legal arm of the animal rights movement is
challenging the framework that allows animals to be used as they are today. A non-profit called Non-Human Rights Project continues to make headway in earning the recognition of legal personhood for some specific animals. The organization, which is led by Stephen Wise of Harvard Law, takes legal action on behalf of specific animals that the group argues meet the conditions necessary for legal personhood.14 And they are not alone—interest in animals at law schools across the country has exploded. Of the 206 ABA-accredited law schools in the U.S., 167 now offer classes in animal law, up from only a handful a decade ago.15
Some notable and positive legal changes are happening now. For example, San Francisco recently joined smaller cities like West Hollywood in banning the sale of fur within city limits,16 and states across the country continue to outlaw specific cruel practices.
11 Lila MacLellan, “Your diet may be vegan, but what about your furniture?” Quartz, December 20, 2015, ac-cessed on May 3, 2018, https://qz.com/573705/your-diet-may-be-vegan-but-what-about-your-furniture/
12 Wendy Herman, “Is Your Furniture Cruel to Animals? That Leather Couch Is the Least of It,” Realtor.com, April 27, 2018, accessed on May 1, 2018, https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-your-furniture-cruel-to-animals/
13 VeganDesign.org, accessed on March 5th, https://vegandesign.org/
14 Non-Human Rights Project, accessed February 23, 2018, https://www.nonhumanrights.org/
15 Animal Legal Defense Fund, accessed February 23, 2018, http://aldf.org/animal-law-courses/
16Natasha Bach, “San Francisco’s Latest Animal-Friendly Law? Banning Fur Sales,” Fortune, March 21, 2018, accessed March 22, 2018, http://fortune.com/2018/03/21/san-francisco-fur-ban-animal-friendly-law/