Asos Will No Longer Sell Silk, Cashmere, Mohair Or Feathers
The move has been applauded by Peta
Asos has announced today that it will no longer sell silk, cashmere, mohair or feathers on its platform. The decision – which has been made on the basis of preventing cruelty to animals – has been praised by Peta.
“Peta applauds Asos for leading the charge for compassion in fashion,” Peta’s director of corporate projects, Yvonne Taylor said. “In response to Peta‘s campaigns, consumers are changing the face of the industry by demanding that designers and retailers ditch animal-derived materials in favour of cruelty-free alternatives that look great without causing suffering.”
Asos is not the first retailer to ban the sale of mohair. Topshop, Marks & Spencer and H&M have all pledged to stop using the material after Peta exposed the mohair industry for the cruel techniques used.
However, Asos has gone one step further by banning the use of a number of other materials, many of which consumers may not have ever considered to be in this category of cruelty.
The production of silk, for example, kills 6,600 silkworms (through boiling or gassing them alive whilst in their cocoons) just to make one kilogram of silk. Cashmere goats are frequently shorn in midwinter despite needing their coats to protect them from the cold, meaning that many die as a result of this exposure, whilst young goats with defects are slaughtered.
Asos has promised that by January 2019, nothing it sells will include any of these cruelly obtained materials.