The PETA Awards 2021 results are in and here are the big fashion winners

(Image credit: Peter Summers)

You've no doubt heard of PETA, but if you haven't heard of its Fashion Awards, they basically look at the ethical practices of fashion brands, in particular whether they offer clothing 'for which animals weren’t beaten, slaughtered, or skinned – as well as items made with materials that are less harmful to the environment'.

As such, the PETA Fashion Awards 2021 celebrate the labels making big changes in their collections for animals, and some big names are taking the right steps right now, including the likes of Gucci, Valentino and Ganni.

The Biggest Fur-Free Moment award goes to Kering, the giant French luxury owner of Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent, for announcing the ban of fur in all its collections.

Ganni won the Progress Award for stepping away from leather altogether, and focusing on vegan materials such as faux leather made from wine grapes.

Valentino and Armani got jointly awarded the Best Luxury Moment gong, for banning Angora, which is made by pulling the hair out of fully conscious rabbits.

Other huge names being celebrated include Stella McCartney for her Frayme Mylo vegan handbag, Nike for its collaboration with Ananas Anam on a vegan trainer collection, as well as Gucci, for creating Demetra, its own in-house vegan leather crafted from 77% raw plant-based materials.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.