Antoine Arnault, a member of the conglomerate’s board of directors, responsible for the company’s image and environment and son of Bernard Arnault, the richest person in Europe, explained why some LVMH brands continue to selling fur, during FT Live’s Business of Luxury Summit on Thursday.

Arnault said LVMH encourages its brands to use lab-made fur, but ultimately their designers have full creative control, including the choice of materials they use.

Arnault said the fur industry created jobs, with entire businesses dependent on its trade.

According to Arnault, if LVMH didn’t sell fur, consumers would go to other brands that don’t produce it as responsibly.

“We are not for animal cruelty, of course we fight it,” Arnault said. The French luxury conglomerate is under pressure from some activists, like PETA, to stop sales of products made from the fur and skins of exotic animals.

LVMH owns Italian fashion and accessories brand Fendi, which makes products such as fox and mink fur jackets and bags from ostrich, python and crocodile leather.

Fendi says all of its raw materials will be “responsibly sourced” by 2026. The brand says it only sources exotic leathers from farms that meet strict animal welfare standards and says it has the “highest ethical sourcing standards” for purchasing fur.

“Our mission is the ethical supply of quality furs to our customers who have freely chosen to wear fur, and we are relentlessly committed to respecting everyone’s opinion and freedom of choice,” Fendi says on its website. .

“Lab fur seems like a much better option to me than faux fur,” Arnault said at the Luxury of Business Summit. He said the company is open to change, but lab-grown fur needs to have the same durability and customer perception of value for it to be rolled out across the company.

The company did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, which was made outside of normal working hours.