Gucci, the Italian haute couture brand, recently launched its latest campaign inspired by the Chinese year of the tiger. The Gucci Tiger campaign launched earlier this month is described by the brand as a “celebration of the Year of the Tiger.”
The Gucci Tiger collection features a wide-range selection of ready-to-wear and accessories, featuring various renditions of the animal. Helmed by Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele, the latest collection is described by the luxury brand as a reflection of his fascination with nature.
The pictures from the latest campaign featured models dressed in the collection, however, what has become a subject of controversy is the use of real tigers in the photoshoot. Netizens and animal rights groups have expressed their concern regarding the presence of real animals in the campaign. According to a report by WWD, World Animal Protection US notified Gucci US of its concern over the luxury brand’s use of tigers in its Gucci Tiger collection campaign, and has asked it to stop using wild animals in its promotional campaigns.
In its defense Gucci had mentioned in its Instagram post, “Nature, wildlife and its denizens are particularly important to Gucci, which in February 2020 joined The Lion’s Share Fund, a unique initiative raising much-needed funds to protect endangered species and their natural habitats.”
The Instagram post also mentioned that a third-party animal welfare organization, American Humane, monitored the set on which animals were present and verified that no animals were harmed.” The caption accompanying the Gucci Tiger campaign posts also mentioned, “Tigers were photographed and filmed in a separate safe environment complying to Gucci’s policies and then featured within the campaign.”
However, netizens have expressed their concerns, as one of the users commented, “It’s literally not hard to leave animals out of photos ‘filmed in a safe environment’ means absolutely nothing when you literally use leather from animals.” Another user pointed out Gucci’s apparent double standards and wrote, “Doesn’t Gucci have leather bags, still selling? What about that? When will that stop?”
A livid netizen commented, “The tiger is not a pet.”
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