French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier has announced fur will no longer be used in any products under his eponymous label.

A large number of global fashion houses have recently announced fur-free policies with Gucci, Versace, Michael Kors, DKNY, Donna Karan and Jimmy Choo going fur-free in the last year alone.

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Last month, New York–based luxury clothing company Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) committed to no longer using fur and angora in its designs, while British brand Burberry also declared it was ending its use of fur. Many other global designers such as Hugo Boss, Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood have long-standing fur banS, while accessories business Tapestry recently announced its Coach brand will no longer use real fur in its products, pledging to phase fur out completely by the debut of its autumn 2019 collection.

Gaultier announced his decision live on French television, during which he said that he won’t be using fur in future collections and that the ways animals are killed for their fur are “absolutely deplorable”.

In a blog post, animal rights group PETA hailed the decision as a “sign of the times”.

“The vast majority of people want nothing to do with items that have come from animals who were caged and electrocuted or bludgeoned to death or caught in steel traps,” it said. “Fur today is as dead as the poor animals it was stolen from, and any designers not clued up enough to see that may as well hang up their sewing needles now.”