Topshop, ASOS Ditch Down Feathers for the Birds
The British high street just became a much safer place for birds — as in actual birds, not women.
According to Vogue U.K., a slew of English brands — including Topshop, ASOS, Primark, Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Oasis, and Kate Middleton’s fave Whistles — have all agreed to stop producing and selling clothing with down feathers after viewing an exposé by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Released this past May, the extremely graphic video (seriously, you’ve been warned) — which has been viewed more than 96,000 times — depicts live geese in China that have been painfully plucked of their feathers in order to fulfill the fashion industry’s demand for down. PETA claims the controversial practice has continued, despite the fact that these same farms allegedly have “connections to retail suppliers that are certified by the Responsible Down Standard, which prohibits live plucking of geese.”
The move to ban down comes a year and a half after Inditex, which owns Zara, and Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop and Miss Selfridge, pledged to stop sourcing angora wool from abused rabbits.
“Just as they did with cruelly obtained angora wool, forward-thinking fashion brands are jumping to meet the demands of today’s compassionate consumers, who want nothing to do with an industry that rips out live birds’ feathers,”Yvonne Taylor, PETA’s senior manager of corporate projects to Vogue U.K. “PETA will continue to work with retailers across the U.K. to ditch feathers in favor of natural or high-tech synthetic fillers that are hypoallergenic, warm, eco-friendly and infinitely kinder to birds.”
A quick search of items containing down currently turns up zero results on Topshop’s e-commerce site, though ASOS still has several men’s coats and jackets lined with down. However, much of the outerwear available appears to be from last season and is low in stock. Gotta start somewhere, right?
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