Vienna, 3 December 2024 – Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS is helping shoppers to gift kind this festive season, adding animal welfare ratings for 35 new international textile brands  for cosy and kind fashion items. Popular gifts such as warm socks, coats and thick sweaters unnecessarily contain animal-derived materials (ADMs) such as wool and down. Five billion animals are suffering or being killed for fur products for fashion per year. The Wear it Kind Brand Directory now includes over 250 brands such as Nike (US), JOOP (DE) and Macy’s (US) for compassionate purchasing decisions before the festive season. The directory seeks to inform customers for kinder fashion choices and urges brands to step up their commitments with regards to more animal welfare in their supply chains.

With the holiday season on our doorstep many people around the globe will gather with family and friends for celebrations and enjoyment. Gifting and unwrapping of presents that include animal cruelty is out of style. FOUR PAWS rated a total of over 256 international fashion brands regarding four priority animal welfare issues: their ambition to refine and replace the usage of wool and down, the ban of fur and overall reduction of ADMs.

Animal-friendly developments in international fashion brands on the rise

The list of top-rated brands is headed by companies such as C&A (BE), Icebreaker (US) and O’Neill Europe. The Wear it Kind Brand Directory reveals that more and more international fashion brands stand up for animal welfare. The strongest sign of the market against animal suffering is the clear rejection of fur: 82% of the brands have already dropped the usage of fur. The renunciation of live lamb cut wool has now also become more and more common. By 2030, 67% of all of the rated companies claim they will have ditched cruel wool. The assessment found that 13% of the brands are leaders in ethical wool sourcing, including  Kings of Indigo (NL), Löffler (AT) and Stella McCartney (UK) that already exclusively source wool free from live lamb cutting. In other areas less progress has been made: The phase out of live plucking for down is establishing itself rather slowly with only 10% of brands properly mitigating this issue. Also 229 of the total of 256 manufacturers still use down, although almost half (47%) of them already use certified down.

“Most animals used in the fashion industry live only a fraction of their natural lifespan,  with many suffering unnecessary pain, fear and stress due to cruel mutilation practices and inadequate living conditions for the sake of clothing. That’s why FOUR PAWS is calling for people to make kinder choices for animals this festive season and for all seasons,” concludes Rustam.

Background

With over 250 international brands rated, customers can easily make animal friendly fashion choices and look out for brands that are free from live lamb cutting, live plucking and fur. Also more sustainable fashion brands that are using next-gen materials replacing outdated ADMs are to be found. The ranking now includes alternative leathers made from apple and pineapple waste as used in Leap and Piñatex, as well as plant-based feather-free and fur-free materials as used in BioPuff and KOBA. 

Sheep wool is one of the most used animal-derived materials in the fashion industry and due to its characteristics, merino wool is not only used for winter clothing, but also in sportswear and outdoor clothing, suits or even cloth nappies. The main problem with wool products is live lamb cutting (mulesing), a bloody procedure carried out in Australia only, the world's largest wool producer. Sheep farmers cut out large strips of skin around a lamb’s buttock, without adequate pain relief, if any at all. The reason for this is to prevent infestation by blowflies. However, this can be managed in pain-free and more effective ways.

Down in puffer jackets, outdoor clothing or blankets and similar products often come from geese and ducks from intensive livestock farming. Many animals suffer from cruel live plucking. Live plucking is when down is brutally torn out of geese without any pain relief, often causing injuries and fractures and sometimes even death. This can be repeated every five to six weeks and since down grows back finer each time there is an incentive for growers to do so. Birds kept on parent farms for reproduction purposes are at an especially high risk of suffering this practice. Unfortunately, FOUR PAWS is not confident that current certifications can sufficiently mitigate this risk due to the complexity of the supply chains.

FOUR PAWS advice on fur: Hands off! Fur that is produced animal-friendly does not exist, nor do the fur industry's certification programmes offer higher animal welfare standards. It is often not clearly labelled as such and cannot be reliably distinguished from artificial fur due to its appearance or price.