Ahead of his upcoming AW18 womenswear show, Tom Ford has become the latest designer to announce he has changed his stance on using fur, and will discontinue its use within his collections. In doing so, he follows in the footsteps of Gucci, Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren, who have also vowed to stop using the controversial material.

In an interview with WWD, Ford disclosed that the reason behind this change of heart is due to a shift in his diet towards veganism, and an angry PETA campaigner. A woman attacked him with tomato juice at an event, while the documentary What The Health inspired him to adopt a plant-based diet; “The fur thing – of course, is a natural thing. (Going vegan) starts to make you question that. I have started using much more fake fur.”

The designer is conscious, though, of the environmental implications of switching to faux alternatives, and has chosen to phase it out by restricting his namesake label’s current fur usage to food byproduct animal skins.

Last season at LFW, an unprecedented presence of anti-fur protesters picketed shows, but whether this has contributed to the industry-wide effort to reduce the use of fur is unclear. 

Read more: Talking with the man who helped make Armani give up fur