Nordstrom Canada has joined the growing list of department stores, designers and e-tailers worldwide to go fur-free. Plus, the Seattle-born company is also going one step further by banning exotic skins, too (making it the first retailer in the US to do so). The materials will be phased out of all brick-and-mortar and online stores by the end of 2021.
The company says the move was prompted by growing customer feedback and following conversations with the Humane Society of the United States. “As part of our ongoing product evolution, we’ve been working with the Humane Society of the United States and recently made the decision to stop offering products made with genuine fur or exotic animal skin in any of our stores or online. Our private label brands haven’t used these materials for years, so extending this policy to all the brands we carry is a natural next step for our business,” Teri Bariquit, the company’s chief merchandising officer, said in a statement.
The company outlined further details of the policy online, noting that the banned furs include mink, fox, lynx, chinchilla, rabbit, coyote, astrakhan/karakul lamb, kangaroo and raccoon dog, among others – in line with the Fur Free Alliance’s guidelines around animals that are killed solely for their fur. The exotic skins policy includes (but is not limited to) lizard, snake, python, alligatorm crocodile, ostrich, kangaroo, and stingray. Nordstrom also outlined that it will continue to sell leather goods made from the byproducts of the meat, agriculture and livestock industries, feathers and down products that are not sourced via live plucking and shearling and calf hair products.
In a release, Kitty Block, the president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, added, “This is a pivotal step toward a more humane business model and a safer world for animals, sending a clear message that animals should not suffer for the sake of fashion. Nordstrom’s decision will surely have a ripple effect on other influential fashion leaders.”
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