Yesterday, a few retailers settled claims that they were selling real fur labeled as fake fur.
The Federal Trade Commission accused businesses including Neiman Marcus, Revolve Clothing, and DrJays.com with labeling real fur as faux, according to The New York Times.
The allegations enraged groups like People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals. Fur found on the items, such as ballet flats and jackets, allegedly ranged from rabbit to Chinese Raccoon Dog.
Fur has been mislabeled for years, but in the past that was usually saying real fur was better quality than it actually was, reports Julie Creswell at the Times. For instance, rabbit might be called mink.
So why are companies mislabeling real fur, which is generally much more valuable than the faux stuff?
PETA says it's to sell product.
“In this global marketplace, there are fur farms in China that raise dogs for clothing that is labeled as fake fur here in the U.S. because that’s what the market best responds to,” Dan Mathews, a senior vice president at PETA, told the Times.
The CEO of DrJays.com claimed that the errors were made in the copy writing process, according to the Times. His website sells more than 50,000 products.
Melodie Warner at the Wall Street Journal reports that people in the business are skeptical that such mix-ups would occur by accident.
"Faux fur has become more authentic, but travels through a separate supply chain, requires different equipment when making garments, and would be hard to confuse with the original during the manufacturing process," Warner reported.
Neiman Marcus told the Journal it was committed to providing accurate information to customers. Revolve Clothing declined to comment.
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