Louis Vuitton has taken a significant step toward sustainability by unveiling garments featuring plant-based faux fur as part of its Fall/Winter 2026 collection at Paris Fashion Week. This material, named Savian, was developed by the Paris and New York-based firm BioFluff to replicate the tactile experience of natural fur, a quality demonstrated on a vest with a wolf-inspired print.
Savian is produced from natural raw materials, including nettle, flax, and hemp. Estimates suggest this leads to a 40% to 90% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to traditional fur, aligning with the environmental objectives outlined by the LVMH conglomerate. BioFluff co-founders Martin Stübler, Roni Gamzon, and Steven Usdan position Savian as the world's first entirely plant-based and biodegradable fur, distinguishing it from synthetic alternatives often made from polyester. A preliminary third-party life-cycle assessment found that Savian’s carbon footprint is at least 75% lower than that of plastic-based fur, and it can biodegrade in a landfill within a few years, whereas polyester takes centuries. The material is also capable of industrial composting in just 12 weeks.
This move places Louis Vuitton among the luxury houses moving away from traditional fur, following trends set by organizations such as New York Fashion Week and Vogue publisher Condé Nast, as well as various competitors. For example, Kering, the parent company of Gucci and Saint Laurent, committed to going fur-free across its entire portfolio back in 2022. Conversely, LVMH had not previously made a group-wide declaration and even allocated €300,000 to the International Fur Federation in 2024. Notably, BioFluff has been based in LVMH’s Paris incubator, La Maison des Start-ups, since its early stages of development.
Despite the rollout of Savian, which first appeared at COP28 in partnership with Stella McCartney, Louis Vuitton has previously faced criticism for a lack of transparency regarding its sustainability goals, particularly in its "Regeneration 2030" roadmap, which lacked specifics on achieving a stated 68% reduction in CO2 emissions. While brands like Gucci abandoned fur starting with their Spring/Summer 2018 collections, Louis Vuitton and Fendi remained prominent proponents of traditional materials. The introduction of Savian into core collections marks the beginning of the brand's active integration of more sustainable alternatives.
