I know we've got Project Runway fans out there, especially after the show's guru of good taste, Tim Gunn, appeared in PETA's anti-fur video.

If, like me, you watch the show obsessively caught last night's episode, you probably did cartwheels in the living room when one "Divorcee Dress Challenge" client, Stephanie, insisted that Nicolas use no wool, silk, leather, or fur in his transformation of her old wedding dress into an outfit she could enjoy as a single woman. I believe her exact words were that she wanted him to be certain "no animals have to suffer."

Now if only Stephanie's snarky designer had spent less time rolling his eyes and more time fashioning a knock-out design instead of ho hum separates, he might have won the challenge. Either way, Stephanie gets top marks for speaking up for animals.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Donna Karan, the target of one of our campaigns, has announced that her fall 2009 lines will be fur-free and that she has "no plans" to use fur in the future!

PETA is now calling on activists and supporters to put the brakes on our "Donna Karan: Bunny Butcher" antics, which have included protesting outside her boutiques, crashing her runway show, and exposing her cruel use of fur online. This is a win for the real fashion victims—animals, who are routinely skinned alive for their pelts—and will allow us all to focus on Armani and other targets while keeping an eye on Donna Karan's 2010 collection.

Karan's announcement came days after PETA launched our (now offline) DonnaKaranBunnyButcher.com Web site and after mega–fashion guru Tim Gunn sent Karan and designer Giorgio Armani a video that he narrated for PETA showing animals skinned alive for their fur and urged them to open their eyes to the violent and bloody fur industry.

While Donna Karan has followed in the footsteps of top designers—including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein—Armani still refuses to stop using fur. Armani claims that he "only" uses fur from rabbits who are butchered for meat. We hope that you will take this opportunity to contact Armani to tell him that while the meat of gentle rabbits killed for their fur in China is sold to be eaten, the suffering that they endure is exactly the same. Point out that the cruelty depicted in this video on fur farms in both China and France show animals who are killed for both fur and meat.

If you're under the age of 21, please send a message to Armani through our youth campaign site, peta2.com.

Posted by Joel Bartlett

Any other Project Runway fans out there? Yep, that's what I thought! I am just dying for them to announce the date for the new season. I mean, yeah, the clothes are awesome and the drama is entertaining, but I'll admit that the real reason I tune in is to see the true genius behind the show: Tim Gunn. Know what his next project is? Convincing Donna Karan and Giorgio Armani to forgo fur! Yes, that's right. America's best-known arbiter of good taste and style has just narrated PETA's new exposé of fur farms—including just-obtained footage of rabbit fur farms in China, where Karan and Armani both source their pelts. Check out the video here:

Because the designers have refused to meet with PETA to view the footage, Gunn has just sent it to them with a personal plea. Why is the fur flying over Chinese pelts in particular? The world's largest exporter of fur is now China—where foxes, rabbits, and cats and dogs are often skinned alive.

"Any designer in the fashion industry who does not want to watch the PETA video and see exactly what happens to animals and how they're treated and how the product that they use comes to the marketplace I believe is egregiously irresponsible," says Tim. "It is critically important that we all be educated about these matters and then make choices."

And it gets better: Tim also sat down with us for an exclusive Q&A!

There. I told you he's a genius! If anyone can make Donna Karan and Giorgio Armani "make it work" without using the skins of dead animals in their collections, he can. Carry on! (I just wanted to say that …)

Posted by Lianne Turner

Word on the street is that fashion maven Tim Gunn is going to be introducing Dan Mathews at his New York booksigning for Committed: A Rabble-Rouser’s Memoir tonight. If you live in NYC, I highly recommend making the trek to the Chelsea Barnes and Noble at 7 p.m., as any evening with Dan is bound to be, um, interesting to say the least, if this pic from one of his runway takeovers in Milan is anything to go by:

The other dates of Dan’s whirlwind tour are on his MySpace page. Dude has been on MySpace for, like, five months and he already has almost 700 friends, which makes me feel a bit lame, given that my friend list has barely progressed beyond Tom and Princess Cuteyface in three years. Maybe I need to get into the book game.

Today, PETA’s Director of Media Relations, Michael McGraw, and Senior VP Dan Mathews gave a presentation to the entire student body of one of the world’s most prestigious design schools. They were in New York City at Parsons, The New School for Design . . . that’s right, the home of Project Runway.

For years, the fur industry has been so desperate that it has bankrolled a program at Parsons offering young designers free fur to design with and underwriting fashion shows for students who put fur on the runway. But three years ago under the tutelage of Project Runway's very own Tim Gunn, the school began giving PETA equal time. I thought it was pretty great how he described his decision to fashion rag Women’s Wear Daily,

“I felt it was important to give students both sides of the story and let them be aware of both sides of the issue.”

Tim Gunn: Make it work, people!
Credit: Renee Starbright/Creative Commons

Also exciting is the fact that cruelty-free designer Marc Bouwer is mentoring juniors at Parsons this semester as they work with cruelty-free fabrics, and their designs will be shown during the class’s year-end fashion show in April. I’ll keep you posted on that.

With Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, J.Crew and a slew of others all permanently going fur-free this year, and with the future leaders of fashion now getting educated on both sides of the fur issue in school, the future looks bleak for the fur pimps out there. And the future looks very bright for these little guys:

Credit: Roger Cullman/Creative Commons

It’s already the talk of the fashion world gathered in New York for Fashion Week, and of course the media is all over it, but just in case you haven’t heard yet, PETA and Marc Bouwer are making fashion history today. This afternoon, PETA is hosting Bouwer’s show—the first ever collection by a designer that’s 100 percent cruelty-free. Not even any wool! In an industry that isn’t exactly known for its social conscience, Bouwer stands out as a very successful anomaly. He’s dressed A-listers galore including Mariah Carey, Oprah, Jessica Simpson, Heidi Klum, Jennifer Hudson, and so many others. Remember how amazingly hot Angelina looked at the Oscars? That was Marc:

We’ll have exclusive photos and video from the show soon, so check back in the next few days.

Good luck this afternoon Marc!