‘Fake fur’ clothes made from real fox and rabbits
Probe finds animal products in faux gear Fury as suppliers breach selling rules
WITH the majority of Brits opposed to the sickening fur trade, millions of fashion shoppers have turned to fake replacements.
But they will be horrified to learn many of those clothes actually contain real products ripped from foxes, rabbits and chinchillas.
And they are being sold through trusted retailers such as TK Maxx, Amazon, Boohoo and Not On The High Street, Etsy and Groupon.
An investigation by the Humane Society International UK found stores have been supplied with real fur labelled as fake.
Executive director Claire Bass said: “The amount of fake faux fur online is shocking, with even trusted retailers misselling real animal fur as synthetic.
“It is appalling that shoppers, who are actively choosing not to buy real fur because of the terrible animal suffering, are buying the very fur products they’re trying to avoid. “Many will be justifiably horrified to discover they’ve inadvertently bought animal fur. Consumers rightly expect brands to sell what they say they’re selling, so urgent action is needed to stop this insidious creep of fur through the back door.” Investigators found a fox fur coat on sale at TK Maxx, mink earrings and rabbit shoes at Boohoo.com and a fox hat at Amazon. A YouGov poll shows nine out of 10 Brits believe it is unacceptable to buy and sell real fur. Fur farming was banned in the UK in 2000 and EU regulations bar fur from domestic cats, dogs or commercial seal hunts. But Britain still imports and sells fur from a range of other species such as fox, rabbit, mink, coyote, racoon dog, and chinchilla. Nearly £40million came from EU countries last year and £15.7million from the
rest of the world. More than £30million is reported to be re-exported, leaving a theoretical domestic market of £25million.
Experts warn the items found by investigators have deceptively low prices because life is cheap on fur farms, with animals suffering appalling conditions.
This means real fur trim often costs the same as – or even less than – fake. Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has called for a total ban on fur imports.
And Conservative Animal Welfare group president Roger Gale MP said: “It is crazy that we banned it here but we still permit imports. With retailers, it’s not an excuse to say, ‘We didn’t know.’ Damn well find out.”
All the stores highlighted in the probe insisted they have no-fur policies, would never knowingly mislead customers and said they would remove the items.
TK Maxx – which the Mirror revealed this month was selling beauty products containing controversial “donkey oil” – said customers who wish to return the fur items can get a full refund.
Amazon added: “All marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines, and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account.
“The products in question are no longer available.”
Groupon said it is “reviewing the supplier and our internal processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again”.
Boohoo added: “We are very disappointed our high standards have been breached by the suppliers from who these items have been sourced.
“The items were immediately removed from sale and the breach of the policy is being investigated as a matter of urgency.”
Not On the High Street said: “We are committed to ensuring the products our partners sell through our marketplace conform to international guidelines on the humane use of animal products.
“Our policies prohibit the sale of real fur and angora, and products made with synthetic materials made to look like animal products must be clearly labelled as such.
“Any products that violate these policies are swiftly removed from sale.”
Etsy added: “We regularly work with government agencies and trusted NGO partners to identify troubling trends in ecommerce and take appropriate action. We
Many will be horrified to find they inadvertently bought real fur CLAIRE BASS HUMANE SOCIETY BOSS
appreciate the Humane Society shining a light on this issue, and we will investigate the identified listings.”
Items in the probe were tested by fibre analysis expert Dr Phil Greaves, of Microtex Laboratory.
Global fashion brand Michael Kors announced this month it is to stop using real fur by the end of next year. The designer said: “Due to technological advances in fabrications, we now have the ability to create a luxe aesthetic using non-animal fur. We will showcase these in our upcoming runway show in February.”
The company is the latest to turn its back on animal fur.
Jimmy Choo, which was acquired by Michael Kors earlier this year, will ban it.
Other major brands including Gucci, Armani, Yoox, Net-a-Porter, and Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss have all axed fur. Stella McCartney uses no fur, feathers or leather.