Progress report for
ACTAsia, Compassion in Fashion consumer education
Achievement at a glance
Undertaking desk research on the fur industry in 2021 has been verified and complimented by a field visit to fur markets in China.Compassion in Fashion online course has gained 571 enrolments across 67 countries.
Fur Free Retailers were recruited in 2021 including our 50th in China, les enphants.
During both Forum events in 2021, we saw a 200% increase in our online forum audience through livestreaming in China. More than 30 media outlets in China covered our Festival in articles including: Vogue, Elle, Grazia, Bazaar, WWD, Forbes and Jing Daily.
The multi-sensory fur free Art Exhibition was the first to be held in China, offering the public educational messages on fur and its origin, the suffering it causes and environmental harm. The media picked up on the exhibition and shared the serious message to reach consumers, families and children making a complex topic simple and relatable. Despite COVID limiting attendance, the exhibition drew over 430 visitors. Those who visited the exhibition said it was moving and they had not considered many aspects of fur and fur farming prior to their visit.
Inaugural Fur Free Day was held in December 2021, a day for all to celebrate fur free and to explore the realities of fur and the alternatives available, over 280 participants, from a humble start we anticipate this to become an annual event with toolkits and public involvement to promote fur free.
During all the activities, ACTAsia has been able to keep fur farming and the use of fur within the mainstream media in China. Reaching consumers and brands and keeping the message of sustainable fashion at the forefront of their minds. Forum events keep fur under the microscope for consumers and brands, enabling media discussions to continue without losing focus or being side lined.
Challenges faced in implementation
COVID-19 has been a particular challenge as an international team to plan and deliver. We have not been able to travel easily with targeted locations locked down in China through the last quarter of the year. This made planning an event in a new city a challenge, as Chongqing does not have an ACTAsia office based there to support the event. Our team had to move to Chongqing to support the proceedings.The restrictions also hampered the Art Exhibition and our plans to invite institutions to visit e.g., schools. This meant we had to adapt to do virtual tours, however the in-person experience is a superior one, at the actual exhibition due to the sculptures and the artist willingness for the public to touch and interact with the pieces and to take in the posters and drawings.
Similarly for our Fur Free Day, we were unable to gather large groups of people to take part in the event which was our focus for the launching year.
The industry report visits to markets were restricted and only a fraction of the plan was able to take place, this is due to both restrictions at our team members home cities and the market locations they were to visit.
Next Steps
Dawn KotuwageBeneficiaries
All the work we do at ACTAsia is centred around education, to benefit the public, the consumers who fuel demand for fur in fashion. The information gathered in the fur industry report is to help update the media with facts and realities of the fur trade so that the public understand and can choose compassionate choices within their lifestyle. Each project has its targeted beneficiary, the Compassion in Fashion online course is aimed at Fashion Institutes, fashion students in designs, communications or business. The consumer education including Festival, Fur Free Day and in 2021 Art Exhibition, the beneficiaries were consumers and the fashion industry through brands and designers.
In 2021, ACTAsia’s events were moved to Chongqing. Chongqing was chosen due to its strategic importance and role within the fur trade in China. Overall, the southwest (Chongqing and Chengdu) of China’s fur trade is phenomenal in terms of fur sales. Over the past decade Chongqing’s fur sales have grown year on year between 6% and 7% and looks set to continue expanding. ACTAsia felt it was time to create a strong fur free stance within the city, with support from its local government and businesses.
With key stakeholder support for fur free within the city, local government and businesses joined ACTAsia to promote fur free through our festival events including a Forum, Art Exhibition and the first Fur Free Day in China.
The Fur Free Sustainable Fashion Festival has events the public can join but also offers accessibility online in English and Chinese, this means our work can be shared nationwide in China and worldwide, reaching consumers and the fashion industry and inspiring them to join the path towards a sustainable fur free future.
Actions
The partnership with stakeholders in Chongqing has positively impacted them and consumers across China. With the new location businesses and local government have responded with awareness and understanding and are willing to seek a fur free future. The consumers in Chongqing have a developing city and investment at their disposal and this is a critical time to inform them of the issues of fur for animals, people and the environment.The Art Exhibition has been especially moving for consumers and families to participate in, seeing the sculptures, touching them ad interacting with the pieces has given depth to an idea that ‘pain by a thousand needles’ for fur, is wrong. Families have been visible moved by the pieces and the posters and paintings. This kind of experience (open for 2 months) gives an opportunity for people to learn, familiarise and deeply understand that sentient beings suffer for fur and that there are alternatives.
The Forum’s in 2021 have drawn together an audience of over 6million . For each event ACTAsia gathered a superb line up of speakers including experts, designers, media and government representatives, each forum had a different focus, the fashion industry and consumers. With inspiration from the next generation materials field and designers in China who have joined the Fur Free Retailer scheme, the event was full of information and inspiration to move businesses and consumers to a fur free future. We were fortunate to have three government organisation representatives speak at the events and media representatives.
The impact from the coverage is a growing movement of consumers who are aware and willing to choose fur free in the future alongside businesses who are ready to deliver a fur free product, working at both sides of the industry to empower and support greater sustainability and fur free future.