Call for Angora Ban Taken to Farfetch Boardroom

Posted by Saskia Fluckiger on September 25, 2019 | Permalink

Will the online fashion platform follow in the footsteps of over 340 designers and retailers that have already banned the cruelly obtained material?

Given that Farfetch is well aware that rabbits used for angora endure a lifetime of claustrophobic confinement – and that their fur is ripped out every three months as they scream in pain or is cut or shorn while they’re suspended from the ceiling – will the online fashion platform follow in the footsteps of over 340 designers and retailers, such as Gucci, Burberry, and Selfridges, that have already banned the cruelly obtained material?

That’s the question that a representative of PETA US, which is a Farfetch shareholder, asked at the company’s annual meeting in Porto, Portugal, today.

PETA and our international affiliates are calling on Farfetch to take a stand against suffering by following the lead of many high-end fashion brands and ending the sale of angora on its websites.

Torture for Rabbits

PETA’s exposé of angora rabbit farms in China – which is the source of 90% of the world’s angora – revealed that rabbits, who are highly social animals, were isolated inside cramped cages and that every three months, the terrified animals were stretched across a board or hung from the ceiling while workers ripped their hair out as they screamed in pain.

Others are suspended from the ceiling before their fur is cut or shorn, and their delicate skin is cut open by the sharp tools as they struggle desperately to escape.

Last year, after receiving over 100,000 appeals from supporters of PETA and our affiliates to ban all fur – including angora – Farfetch announced that “products made entirely from furs or made with fur trims” would be banned by 31 December 2019.

However, it refuses to confirm whether the ban includes angora, making it one of the last remaining outlets for a dwindling number of designers to sell their cruelly produced wares.