Fur flies at London fashion show
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Anti-fur campaigners storm the Julien Macdonald stage
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LONDON, England -- Anti-fur protesters hijacked a star-studded fashion show as models paraded on the London catwalk.
With an audience including American singers Christina Aguilera and Pink, Welsh classical singer Charlotte Church and diva Shirley Bassey, three demonstrators stormed the stage.
Security guards surrounded the protesters and ushered them to the exits as models in designer Julien Macdonald's show at London Fashion Week show attempted to continue as if nothing untoward was happening.
The protest was staged by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against Macdonald because of his use of fur in his outfits.
Sean Gifford, PETA UK's director of campaigns, said: "Some old designers not only are heartless and shameless, they are also deaf -- to the cries of animals in steel traps and painfully killed on fur farms internationally."
The stars in the audience were more forgiving than PETA. Bassey said: "I love him because he is Welsh and stylish...and because he gave me these shoes."
Church said she loved his "completely glam" designs but added: "They're all a bit risque for me. But I love looking at them."
Macdonald himself was able to laugh off Wednesday night's interruption, saying his fur jackets and coats were all rabbit and by-products of the meat industry.
"None of the animals was raised for their fur...so the protest was a bit of a waste of their time," he told Reuters.
Macdonald's show, staged in a completely round theatre in north London, was among the last of 50 catwalk shows in London Fashion Week.
His clothes are loved by celebrities for their red-carpet allure. Australian singer Kylie Minogue is expected to be dressed in a Macdonald design for the Brit music awards in London on Thursday.
