Yahoo Finance Harvey Nichols bans fur following pressure from activists
Harvey Nichols will stop selling fur by the end of this year, becoming the latest retailer to announce it is ditching the animal product following pressure from campaigners.
The luxury department store said it will phase out both fur and fur-trimmed products from its stores over the coming months. It currently sells mink fur coats from designers such as Yves Salomon, which retail for more than £7,000 as well as Canada Goose parkas and bomber jackets with fur-trimmed hoods worth over £1,000.
Harvey Nichols said the step came as part of its ongoing review of these practices, and had been an internal policy it was working on for some time.. Some of the brands it sells – including Canada Goose – have pledged to stop using fur in their designs.
The announcement of the ban comes comes amid a wider shift among retailers to turn their backs on fur, including Frasers Group, which last October said it was planning to have no new fur products on its shelves from autumn 2023.
The switches to phase out fur this year follow an earlier industry-wide shift away from fur, with both Harvey Nichols and Frasers-owned House of Fraser having pledged to cut fur out of their stores, although the former reneged on the policy in 2013.
House of Fraser had said it would not sell fur in its stores in 2010, but customers claimed they were still able to find fur-lined garments in its stores in 2017. House of Fraser apologised and removed the items, although it was unclear whether the fur-free policy was still in place following its takeover in 2018.
When Frasers Group announced its latest move to ban new fur items from its stores last year, it said it was “committed to a future without fur”. It added: “The business will be issuing letters to all of its suppliers requesting no fur products are supplied to the group.” Frasers also owns Flannels and Sports Direct.
Campaigners at the Humane Society said the news that Harvey Nichols was now also going fur-free was an “iconic moment in our campaign”.
Claire Bass, from the Humane Society, said: “This world famous British department store has come to the inevitable conclusion that so-called ‘ethical fur’ simply doesn’t exist and fur farming flies in the face of any credible notion of sustainability. Harvey Nichols’ compassionate stance now leaves the handful of remaining retailers that continue to sell fur looking increasingly isolated.”
Burberry, Chanel, Prada and Net-a-Porter have all also pledged to stop selling fur.
