Shoppers being taken fur fools
CONSUMER INVESTIGATION: ‘FAUX’ TRIMS FROM PELTS
SHOPPING centres and markets are awash with real fur clothes masquerading as fake, made from the pelts of foxes, rabbits and raccoon dogs, a Mirror probe can reveal.
Fur-trimmed jackets, shoes, hats and gloves were found with labels either making no mention of their origins or claiming they are synthetic.
Investigators bought 20 fur-trimmed items ranging from £5 to £45 from markets and stores in Durham, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Stratford-upon-Avon and York, as well as online.
All the items were found to contain real animal fur, including a pair of children’s shoes and a baby’s hat.
Claire Bass, director of animal rights organisation Humane Society International UK, said: “Buyers beware: the plethora of real fur items we found being sold as faux shows avoiding animal fur continues to be a minefield for shoppers.
“There’s a misconception that if a garment is cheap, it is faux fur.” A £29.99 pair of platform shoes from website Ego were labelled as “black faux fur” but were found to be fox. A £5 pair of kids’ plimsolls from Everything5Pounds.com labelled “faux fur trim” were found to contain rabbit. A £12 pair of “faux fur” pink diamante trainers from online fashion store Cucu were found to contain rabbit. A Walthamstow Market trader in East London said the pom-pom on a £5 baby’s hat was “fake”. He told investigators: “I don’t have real fur as it’s too expensive.” But tests showed otherwise.
A street vendor in Leeds sold us a £10 hat, saying: “It’s not animal fur. It would be more expensive.” But the pom-pom was found to be raccoon dog fur.
A vendor at Stratford Indoor Market, in East London, said it was “not possible to get a pair of real fur gloves for £5”, unaware those he sold had a rabbit trim.
A YouGov poll found nearly half of shoppers rely on the feel and price of fur to decide if it is real. Many still believe real fur is expensive. But retailers can
bulk-buy rabbit fur trim from online wholesalers for as little as £1 a metre.
Fur farming was banned in the UK in 2000, with the last farm closing in 2003. But it is still legal to import fur, with millions of pounds’ worth flooding in.
Clare Bass said: “In most cases, we don’t believe the vendors are deliberately misleading customers. They genuinely believe what they’re selling is faux fur. Life’s cheap on a fur farm and that misery is reflected in the rock-bottom price.”
Cucu Fashion removed the trainers
from its site to investigate. It said: “We work with suppliers from the UK and Europe and were advised they don’t use real fur. We’re disappointed they’ve breached our high standards.”
Ego fashion said: “Heel Sassy has been taken off the site to be investigated.” Lexi Fashion in Newcastle disputed the findings, saying it “is RACCOON DOG Their fur is being sold as ‘fake’ not sufficient to determine whether the fur is allegedly real or fake”.
It added: “We did not purchase this item from our suppliers as real fur, we purchased this in good faith as faux fur.” Everything5pounds.com did not respond.
■ Sign the petition to ban fur sales at hsi.org/FurFreeBritain