Adah Sharma Stars in New Horror

Mumbai – Screaming in terror as she's "skinned alive", actor Adah Sharma is reminding everyone that "Leather Is a Rip-Off" and that "Your Leather Jacket Was Someone" – ahead of World Fashion Day (21 August). The Bollywood star – who first burst onto the scene with a debut performance in the horror film 1920 and starred in the hit film The Kerala Story and numerous others – has teamed up with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India in a new campaign to call attention to the suffering of the more than 1.4 billion cows, sheep, and goats and millions of other animals killed every year for the toxic leather industry and to urge shoppers to steer clear of the violently obtained material.

"Sensitive cows, buffaloes, snakes, and crocodiles feel the same pain and fear that we do but are forced to endure tremendous suffering just to be killed for leather bags and shoes that can be made from vegan leather instead," says Sharma. "My friends at PETA India and I are urging everyone to keep the horrors of the slaughterhouse out of their closets by opting for vegan fashion. You can look killer without killing animals."

Animals used for leather in India are often crammed into vehicles so tightly that many are injured or die on the way to a slaughterhouse. If they survive the journey, their throats are cut in full view of other animals. Leather production also destroys the planet, as turning animals' skin into leather requires massive amounts of toxic chemicals and runoff from leather tanneries poisons local waterways.

Given the animal welfare, environmental, and human health problems associated with producing animal-derived materials, vegan fashion is the future. For a previous World Fashion Day, 33 leading designers agreed to give leather the boot after being asked by PETA India and Lakmé Fashion Week to stop using the material in order to protect animals and the environment. Top designers who won't be using leather include Gaurav Gupta, Masaba Gupta, Monica and Karishma, Aneeth Arora, Ranna Gill, Shyamal & Bhumika, Sonaakshi Raaj, Siddartha Tytler, Rina Dhaka, Vikram Phadnis, Rocky Star, Atsu Sekhose, Dev R Nil, and Akshat Bansal. Anita Dongre and Purvi Doshi have been leather-free for a while.

Luxurious synthetic leather, which is more eco-friendly than animal leather, is widely available. Leather is now also increasingly being made from sugarcane, pineapple leaves, cork, fruit waste, recycled plastics, mushrooms, mulberry leaves, teak leaves, discarded temple flowers, coconut waste, tomato composite, and more. Plant-based leathers are also good for Indian farmers, as the state of Meghalaya has shown by encouraging pineapple leather production.