Gucci Lawsuit Alleges Pythons, Crocodiles Treated Inhumanely to Source Exotic Skin Handbags

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A former Gucci employee alleges in a proposed class action lawsuit that the high-end fashion brand and its parent company have falsely claimed that the pythons and crocodiles from which its luxury handbags, shoes, wallets and luggage are sourced were killed humanely.

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The 12-page false advertising lawsuit says that although Gucci sales staff are trained to inform customers that the brand’s exotic skin products are sourced ethically, that the animals were not tortured, and that the skins are a “byproduct of the food industry,” among other representations, a March 2024 CBS News report revealed otherwise. 

In particular, CBS News reported that pythons were “bashed with hammers, impaled on hooks and skinned alive to provide skins used” by Gucci for its handbags, shoes and belts, many of which sell for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. The investigation was done by animal rights group PETA, which shared the findings with CBS after visiting two python farms in Thailand from February through November 2023.

Per the case, the python farms investigated by PETA supply skins to Caravel, a tannery owned by co-defendant Kering Americas. The suit mentions Kering boasts in its portfolio not only Gucci but Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Creed and Alexander McQueen, among other high-end brands.

The lawsuit adds that PETA Asia investigators learned that crocodiles supplied to Kering were “repeatedly stabbed with a metal blade and continued to move while workers peeled off their skin.”

The former Gucci employee who filed the proposed class action sold nearly $50 million in products over the course of her nearly 18-year career with the brand, the filing says. The plaintiff relays that she was trained by Gucci to perform a “selling ceremony” when presenting certain exotic skin handbags, during which she would tell customers that the skins were sourced ethically, that the snakes and crocodiles were not tortured, that the skins were obtained through a “natural shedding process,” and that the skins are a byproduct of the food industry.

“Upon seeing the news, Plaintiff learned, for the first time, that Defendants deceived her into buying, and selling, crocodile/alligator and python products by falsely claiming it engaged in humane and ethical practices during the production of the exotic skin products,” the proposed class action summarizes, adding that the plaintiff is traumatized as a result of being “duped” by Gucci and Kering into selling “countless” exotic skin products to clients.

According to the suit, Gucci’s own sustainability principles include the brand’s purported commitment to respecting animal welfare and emphasizing ethical practices in the capture, breeding, raising, transportation, handling and slaughter of animals. In 2017, Gucci went so far as to buy its own python farms in Thailand so as to ensure that animals would be raised in the best possible conditions, the complaint relays.

To date, the lawsuit says, Gucci and Kering have remained silent on the animal rights allegations at issue.

The Gucci lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who bought any Gucci exotic skin products in Illinois over the past 14 years.

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