Not everyone at tonight's CFDA Fashion Awards had as good of a time as Hood By Air's Shayne Oliver. Ralph Lauren might have had their worst awards ceremony yet. Tonight as attendees arrived at Lincoln Center, they were greeted by activists for the Rainforest Action Network’s (RAN) Out of Fashion campaign that held up signs calling out the luxury brand for contributing to deforestation. "When deforestation is part of your lifestyle," read one banner, stamped with a parodied Ralph Lauren log saw blade logo.
RAN also issued a statement on their website about their issues with Ralph Lauren, as Complex points out. "Every year, millions of trees are turned into clothing through the use of forest fabrics like rayon and viscose," said senior forest campaigner Brihannala Morgan. "This scandal has been hidden in plain sight for too long, but no more. The time has come for the fashion industry, and in particular Ralph Lauren, to take responsibility for its impacts on people and the planet and to publicly adopt binding policies that prevent deforestation, human rights abuses and climate pollution from being woven into the fabrics Americans wear everyday."
Ralph Lauren has yet to respond.