Breaking: Bengaluru Native and PETA France Activist Disrupts Dior Show to Protest Against Use of Feathers

During Dior show in Paris, a PETA France activist, Bengaluru native Natasha Garnier, stormed the runway to denounce the fashion house’s use of feathers. Wearing a faux-feather dress that made her back look like bloodied, live-plucked skin, Garnier held a sign reading, “F*ck Feathers!” before the star-studded audience. The action comes after Lady Gaga appeared at the Paris Olympics wearing a Dior dress made of ostrich feathers.  

Ostriches are the birds most commonly exploited for feathers by the fashion industry. PETA entity video exposés of the world’s largest ostrich-slaughter companies revealed that young birds are kept on barren dirt feedlots before they’re crammed onto lorries, transported to abattoirs, and electrically shocked. Then their throats are slit. These animals can live up to 45 years in their natural habitats, but those used for their feathers are killed at just 1 year old. Dior has claimed that it uses feathers that are a result of natural moulting, but selling moulted feathers is not a viable business model to supply designers with the volume of feathers they demand – and whenever parts of animals are used in the fashion industry, corners are cut and abuse is commonplace. 

The action follows PETA UK’s recent disruption of a Burberry show in London, and PETA entity supporters have stormed runways during previous London, Milan, New York, and Paris Fashion Weeks to protest against the use of animal skins. PETA entities have also joined hands with Stella McCartney to call on designers around the world to pledge to never again use feathers in their collections.  

Garnier was born in Bengaluru and grew up in Muscat, Oman. She returned to Bengaluru to complete her bachelor’s degree at Mount Carmel College, where she majored in French, communications, and sociology. She moved to France for her master’s degree in translations and decided to go vegan after adopting a dog, Sandy. Sandy helped her understand that there’s no difference between the animals we call friends and those we kill to eat. She became an animal rights activist shortly afterwards and works with local activists in Bengaluru whenever she returns home to visit her family. Garnier’s parents reside in Yeshwanthapura. 

Please, never wear the skin of a cow, snake, alligator, seal, rabbit, or any other animal.