Victoria Beckham Gets New Vegan Birkin Bag With PETA Us Appeal

In the Wake of a Shocking Exposé of Hermès' Suppliers' Cruelty to Animals, PETA Hopes Chic, New Mock-Croc Handbag Will Inspire Kindness to Reptiles

London – Victoria Beckham is known for her love of exotic-skin Birkin bags – but PETA US believes it can change that. This morning, the animal rights group – whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to wear" – sent Beckham a letter sharing the findings of a new eyewitness investigation of Hermès-supplying alligator and crocodile farms, where animals were packed into dark sheds and barren concrete pits. Instead of growing up with their protective mothers in family pods, alligator hatchlings were orphaned at birth and killed just one year later. Workers crudely hacked into the necks of some alligators and tried to scramble their brains with metal rods – and some of the animals were still conscious and flailing their legs minutes after workers cut into them.

To help Beckham make the cruelty-free switch, the group has also sent her a unique gift: a special-edition "V"irkin bag, the brand-new vegan mock-croc handbag by award-winning Freedom of Animals – an H&M Conscious collection partner that's been dubbed the "Céline of vegan fashion" for its high-end, minimalist vegan handbag designs.

"Every Birkin bag means that a beautiful, sensitive animal suffered a miserable life and a gruesome death", says PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi. "PETA hopes the gorgeous 'V'irkin bag will inspire Victoria Beckham to embrace vegan fashion and leave all exotic-animal skins out of her wardrobe and clothing line, as she's already done with fur."