Global animal welfare organisation, Four Paws, recently released its latest ‘Animal Welfare in Fashion’ report to bring to light the consideration of animal welfare when it comes to fashion production and supply chains.
When it comes to fashion, animal-derived materials have slowly been given the backseat by many brands. However, the progress of the same is evidently slow as many of the biggest fashion brands continue to sell fur and other products that aren’t completely cruelty-free.
The report, which assessed 111 brands across different markets, rates the best and worst fashion brands with regards to animal welfare. At the top of the ‘best’ list includes LVMH-owned Stella McCartney achieving the report’s highest score of 90 per cent. Other brands from the ‘best’ list included outdoor brand Icebreaker, sustainable brand Another Tomorrow, who also achieved a 90 per cent rating. Amongst the top ten were also Takko, People Tree, Nikon, Mara Hoffman, Armedangels, Afends and Smartwool.
Brands that failed to meet adequate animal welfare standards as per the report included big industry names like Hermés, Fendi, Prada, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Max Mara and Moncler who were all given a zero per cent score. Also a part of the bottom list were Michael Kors that scored 8 per cent, Coach with 13 per cent and Off-White at 15 per cent.
The luxury sector as a whole fared worst of all categories in fashion overall at a 23 per cent score, followed by fast fashion with a score of 53 per cent. Four Paws, however, did state that luxury brands like Hermès, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Fendi have put in place formal animal welfare policies as well as time-bound commitments to source certified wool and/or down. This, however doesn’t do much as most of them continue to source animal-derived materials like fur, exotic skins and angora.
Image Source: Theguardian.com