Carla Bruni-Sarkozy v. PETA: free shoes for anyone wearing leather

French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is trying to win over People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and it’s sort of working. Carla wrote a letter to PETA claiming that she does not buy or wear fur, and she only wears skin/leather products of animals “raised for feeding purposes.” Which makes sense in the larger view - use all parts of the animal, if an animal has to die, make sure everything is being utilized so there’s no waste. Except that how does Carla (or anyone for that matter) know if the leather products come from animals that are also being used for food? There’s the “cruelty-free” label, but from my understanding, that’s just for leather harvested from “naturally deceased animals.” Perhaps Carla thinks that if she’s wearing leather from cows, naturally, all of those cows have been made into a nice juicy steak. Mmm… steak.

PETA actually contained themselves when Carla admitted in the letter that she was not a vegetarian. PETA spokesperson Dan Matthews was able to get a handle on himself and managed not to scream, “No one can ever eat meat, ever, ever, ever!” Matthews only picked up on the leather stuff - he says that PETA is sending over some Stella McCartney non-leather shoes so Carla can “see that no animals have to be fashion victims.” Uh… if I send a letter to PETA telling them that I don’t wear fur (which is totally true), will they send me a pair of Stella McCartney shoes?

FRANCE’S Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has captured the hearts of animal activists in a big way.

In a letter to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, France’s first lady writes: “I do not wear, buy or own fur or animal skin other than leather or skin of animals raised for feeding purposes. I am not a vegetarian and I don’t find it illogical to wear skins of animals whose meat is also eaten.”

She adds: “I would gladly consider giving away sable, fox and other fur coats — if I owned any.”

PETA honcho Dan Mathews is impressed. “Carla’s obviously for ward-thinking,” he told us. “And when she gets the chic, non-leather shoes we’re sending from Stella McCartney’s Paris boutique, we’re confident she’ll see that no animals have to be fashion victims.”

[From Page Six]

I want a pair of shoes! PETA, I don’t wear fur! But I have a lot of leather shoes and purses - so maybe a couple of pretty non-leather purses from Hermes, or something?

It’s interesting that PETA decided to send Carla a pair of shoes - she recently gave an interview where she admitted she really regrets the focus on her flat footwear. She (and the international press) are obsessed with how she towers over her husband, and Carla has taken to wearing flats almost all of the time. Also, if you want to see some cool pictures of Carla and Michelle Obama’s“fashion face-off” in France this past weekend, Huffington Post had some good fashion coverage.