This week the news broke that a number of high street stores have been selling items with what they claimed was faux fur but in actual fact was real! An investigation conduced by Humane Society International discovered that there were products on sale from a number of stores including, Missguided and House of Fraser which contained real types of fur.
The fur types found in the products included raccoon, mink, cat and rabbit. The fur was found in a pair of high-heels for sale from Missguided and a pair of gloves on sale in House of Fraser.
It brings about the question – how can we trust these brands? Consumers believed that because the products were being sold so cheaply and labelled as being faux that they were not being sold real fur. To have this then changed is absolutely outrageous. Selling and wearing real fur is a highly controversial issue, and something which I personally am against, from a moral and animal rights perspective. While I myself have not bought so-called faux fur products from the named stores, this scandal has made me question the validity of other stores I’ve bought faux-fur products from. Has this research not been conducted by the Humane Society International it’s likely these stores would have continued to sell this ‘fake’ fur. The HSI have said that they believe this to be just the beginning of a ‘fake’ fur scandal across the high-street and it’s something which has really made me question what I’m buying and from who. I know I certainly won’t be buying from Missguided or House of Fraser again anytime soon!
Both stores have removed the items in question from sale and have offered consumers who purchased them a full refund. They have also said they will be reaching out to their suppliers and are conducting thorough internal investigations in order to uncover how such a breach could have happened. With both stores claiming to have anti-fur policies in place this is a serious breach of consumer trust, and whether they were aware of it or not it largely irrelevant, it’s not something that should have happened in the first place.
Fashioning Business 