Did you hear that? It was the collective sigh of relief from raccoons, foxes, and minks—as well as human fur foes everywhere. It turns out that France's first lady and international style icon Carla Bruni-Sarkozy refuses to wear fur.

marieclaire / CC

PETA Vice President Dan Mathews contacted Bruni-Sarkozy after seeing photos that showed her wearing what appeared to be real fur. She wrote back, "I do not wear, buy, or own fur …. Every designer who kindly lends me clothes for public appearances can tell you that I do not accept … fur pieces, even when they're only a small part of the outfit."

The first lady—who admitted to wearing fur during her modeling heyday—also made it clear that if the photos are recent, the fur is fake.

"By officially rejecting fur in the fashion capital of the world, this political and style idol will make people everywhere think about how old-fashioned and cruel it is," said Dan in a statement issued to the media.

With some free shoes from Stella McCartney, courtesy of PETA, on the way to Carla's doorstep, we're hoping she will swear off leather for good too.

Posted by Karin Bennett

It's no secret that we've had a bit of a rocky relationship with supermodel Kate Moss in the past—things have been said in the heat of the moment, earnest pleas have been made, and, well, with Kate's long history of wearing fur in public, you would think we'd have a pretty strong case for "irreconcilable differences," if it came to that. But there's hope for the relationship yet, and it's come in the welcome form of Kate's connection with the wonderful British fashion chain, Topshop, which proudly displays its strong fur-free policy in the window of its flagship store in London. Now that Kate is designing fur-free fashions for Topshop, PETA UK has sent her a certificate of appreciation and a bouquet of flowers to thank her. You can check out the story here, and here's what PETA UK's director had to say on the topic:

“Opinion polls consistently show that the vast majority of women in the UK would never wear real fur.� Kate Moss’ new Topshop fur-free range is a killer look� without� killing animals, and for this, it is only right and fair to extend our thanks”.

It's great to see that she's hanging with the right crowd now—fingers crossed that their positive influence will rub off on her and start showing in her personal life. We'd love to be friends again.