PETA reignites Vogue beef by gifting Anna Wintour human hair scarf

By Ed Chatterton

The founder of PETA has reignited a long-running feud with the editor of Vogue magazine by bizarrely sending her a scarf made of human hair - from her own head.

Animal activist Ingrid Newkirk, 76, most famously tossed a dead racoon on to the plate of Anna Wintour while she dined at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York as a protest against fur back in 1997.

Now, the charity boss has sent the magazine's global editorial director another gift in the form of a scarf woven from human hair, which has been shorn from her own head.

The strange stunt comes ahead of London Fashion Week as PETA urges the industry to stop using cashmere made from "crudely tearing hair from goats".

The pair have had a long-standing feud since the infamous racoon incident and Newkirk storming the Vogue offices where she answered the phone saying: "We’re closed today due to cruelty to animals."

The animal rights organization has become well known for its controversial methods of campaigning over the years - from shocking exhibits to billboards.

But they still boast celebrity supporters such as Pamela Anderson, Morrisey, Ricky Gervais, Alicia Silverstone and Paul McCarthy despite their divisive tactics.

PETA's latest campaign has involved getting a "material design research studio" that works mainly with human hair to craft a "luxurious scarf woven from the only acceptable animal hair for fashion".

Newkirk has also sent a letter to Wintour urging her to wear the scarf during London Fashion Week - and described the gift as a "peace offering."

In an accompanying letter, she says: "It has been a long time since the dead raccoon hit your plate at the Four Seasons in New York, and even longer since I had occupied your offices in the Conde Nast building.

"Much water and animal blood has passed under the bridge since then, and thankfully, times have changed, and people are now keenly aware of how greatly animals have suffered in the fashion industry over those years and even couturiers who once had models wear real wolves’ heads as hats now shun it.

"As you prepare for Fashion Week, please accept this gift from PETA – a unique, luxurious scarf, woven from what is the only and inarguably acceptable, animal hair to use for fashion, human hair.

"It includes mine, willingly given and obtained without harm or death, something that can’t be said for the other kind.

"I hope you will accept it as a peace offering, a way to mark agreement between us that this kind of barbarity cannot be countenanced, and that you will choose to wear this scarf or display it otherwise during the Fashion Week circuit.

"It would make the powerful statement that fashion has evolved from exploitive to empathetic."

Newkirk said: “I suffered no hardship in having my own hair cut and woven into this scarf, but gentle goats are not volunteers; our undercover videos show that they scream as workers restrain them and rip their hair out with steel combs for cashmere.

“I hope this gift will cause Wintour, who kept touting fur long after all others shunned it, to consider that cashmere, just like mohair and sheep’s wool, is quite literally stolen goods.”

A PETA spokesperson added, "Goats are highly social animals who can become depressed if they’re separated or isolated from their companions.

"PETA Asia investigations into cashmere operations in China and Mongolia – where nearly all of the world’s cashmere is produced – revealed terrified goats screaming in pain as workers pin them down, twist their legs, and tear out their hair with sharp, rake-like metal combs, tearing off pieces of their skin and leaving some with bleeding wounds.

"Goats deemed no longer profitable are sent to the slaughterhouse, where workers drag them onto the kill floor, bash them over the head with hammers, and slit their throats."

The letter in full reads: "It has been a long time since the dead raccoon hit your plate at the Four Seasons in New York, and even longer since I had occupied your offices in the Conde Nast building and answered the phone: “Hello, Vogue. I’m sorry, but we’re closed due to cruelty to animals.”

"Much water and animal blood has passed under the bridge since then, and thankfully, times have changed, and people are now keenly aware of how greatly animals have suffered in the fashion industry over those years and even couturiers who once had models wear real wolves’ heads as hats now shun it.

"As you prepare for Fashion Week, please accept this gift from PETA – a unique, luxurious scarf, woven from what is the only and inarguably
acceptable, animal hair to use for fashion, human hair.

"It includes mine, willingly given and obtained without harm or death, something that can’t be said for the other kind. Cruelty-free and environmentally friendly, the scarf has been crafted by Studio Sanne Visser.

"It is black to reflect the dark reality of the cashmere industry, where terrified animals are thrown to the shed floor, restrained by having their feet tied together, stood on by workers, hit in the face with clippers, raked until their flesh is raw with steel combs, having their hair pulled out by hand: all caught on videotape by PETA undercover investigations.

"I hope you will accept it as a peace offering, a way to mark agreement between us that this kind of barbarity cannot be countenanced, and that you will choose to wear this scarf or display it otherwise during the Fashion Week circuit.

"It would make the powerful statement that fashion has evolved from exploitive to empathetic."