Farfetch confirms fur ban from end of year

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 4, 2019

Farfetch has become the latest luxury name to say that it will stop selling fur with the ban set to start in December. The company has previously featured a relatively large amount of fur on its site and has come under heavy pressure from campaigners to end the practice. 

And last autumn, after the company’s IPO, it emerged that campaign group PETA had bought shares in the firm in order to pressurise the luxury retailer. It said the share purchase would allow it to attend the company's annual meetings and “officially urge it to end the sale of fur.”

Meanwhile, the news of its ban was welcomed by animal charity Humane Society International, and its US affiliate, which said it had worked with the e-tailer for years to bring about the move.  

In the last year, fur has increasingly become a no-go area for luxury brands that once embraced it and retailers and labels including Yoox Net-a-Porter, Gucci, Michael Kors, Versace, Burberry, Donna Karan, Coach, Jean Paul Gautier and Jimmy Choo have all said it will no longer figure in their offer.

HSI UK Executive Director Claire Bass said Monday: “Each new fur-free announcement continues the domino effect of designers and retailers seeing the importance of distancing their brands from the fur industry’s cruelty. The fur-free revolution shows no signs of slowing down, and it’s making fashion houses like Fendi, and Dolce and Gabbana that are still selling [fur] look increasingly outmoded and isolated.”

In the UK, where Farfetch is based, opinion polls show 80% of consumers believe that fur sales should be banned, HSI added.