Fleece Police: PETA Comes After Free People for Use of Wool
Bah bah…pink sheep?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has come after Free People for its Stand Out, Never Still campaign—and its use of wool in products it sells.
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The Urban Outfitters-owned brand released brightly colored activewear items under its Free People Movement line, complemented by a video for the campaign. The video features a sheep dyed pink to stand out from the rest of the flock, where all the sheep don their regular white fleeces. The pink sheep later leads a pack of runners wearing Free People’s latest collection, featuring bright oranges, pinks and more.
PETA was less than enamored with the clip—and with Free People’s use of Tilly, the sheep which it dyed pink and called its “first four-legged brand ambassador.” The animal rights organization ripped into Free People and its parent company in a letter last week.
“With this gratuitous use of an animal, Free People contradicts its purported message of individuality and empowerment. Dyeing a sheep pink just to produce advertisements for your brand says, ‘It’s fashionable to manipulate animals’ bodies for profit!’” Jacqui Sadashige, manager of corporate responsibility, wrote in the letter.
Free People’s website notes that, “The American Humane Society (AHS) has found that production for the Stand Out, Never Still campaign met the standards for No Animals Were Harmed certification.”
Nonetheless, the letter goes on to allege that using live animals on a production set endangers both humans and animals. But it seems PETA’s outrage focuses less on Tilly herself and more on what she seems to represent to the organization, which is vehemently against using animal products in fashion and apparel items.
Moira Colley, director of media relations for PETA, said Free People’s use of wool is a deeper issue for the organization.
“Dyeing a sheep’s wool pink and calling her a brand ambassador mocks the sheep who suffer and die to make clothing. Free People is exploiting an animal’s body for an ad and sending the heartless message that it’s OK to manipulate and exploit animals’ bodies for profit. This is the same callous mindset that underlies the wool industry that Free People supports, which tortures, mutilates and kills sheep,” she told Sourcing Journal.
PETA has called on Free People to remove its Stand Out, Never Still campaign and to stop using wool and wool-adjacent products in the letter.
“Urban Outfitters brands have been ‘standing still’ far too long, clinging to animal-derived fibers when cruelty-free vegan fibers are readily available. It’s time to step into the future of fashion and go 100 percent vegan. It’s time for Urban Outfitters to stand for animals not against them,” Sadashige wrote.
Free People ditched its use of angora in 2016, but it still uses wool, leather and other animal-based materials in some of its products. Colley said the brand should consider following in the footsteps of other brands like Gap, Abercrombie and American Eagle, which “ have been embracing high-performing vegan fabrics that are the perfect combination of cruelty-free and sustainable, including organic cotton, bamboo and hemp, linen, sustainably sourced Tencel and more.”
Urban did not return Sourcing Journal’s request for comment.
