“Consumers are changing the face of the industry.”
UK-based mega e-tailer ASOS, home of so many of our mid-week accidental online shopping sprees, will ban silk, mohair, cashmere, feathers and down from its site as of January 2019.
The move comes after other big high street names like Zara, H&M, and Topshop banned mohair following a PETA exposé on the abuse on of the goats who grow it.
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It also follows pricier brands like Gucci, Armani, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein eliminating fur from their collections.
Back in October 2017, Gucci CEO Marco Bizarri said fur was “not modern, it’s outdated.”
ASOS’s own animal welfare policy bans the use of endangered animals, or those which have been caught in the wild. In addition, it only allows leather which has been produced as a by-product of the meat industry to be sold.
PETA’s UK head, Elisa Allen, applauded the move.
“The global online retail platform is reflecting a profound shift in public attitudes towards the rearing and killing of animals for fashion,” she told the Guardian.
“Consumers are changing the face of the industry by demanding that designers and retailers offer clothing and accessories that look beautiful without harming animals.”
Allen is right — worldwide, we’re seeing a shift in the use of animal products in fashion.
Back in June last year, luxury e-tailer Yoox Net-A-Porter said they would stop selling fur across all their brands, including Net-A-Porter, The Outnet, and Mr Porter.
That decision was customer-led, the New York Times reported at the time. A survey of over 25,000 customers showed that over 50 per cent of the sites’ regular shoppers didn’t want to see fur sold.
“We’re making some sacrifices,” chief executive Federico Marchetti told the NYT. “You can’t go around saying you are a customer-centric business and not listen to your customers.”
We’re guessing ASOS would agree with that assessment.
Images: ASOS/Instagram
