Major UK online fashion and beauty retailer ASOS has updated its animal welfare policy to include a number of animal-based materials, just-style reports. Per the new policy, ASOS will no longer sell anything that includes the use of feathers or down, animal bones or horns, shells (such as mother of pearl), teeth, mohair, cashmere, and silk.
ASOS’s new animal welfare policy will be in full effect by January 2019, after which products featuring the materials will no longer be available through the site, including third-party brands. ASOS told just-style in a statement that the new policy updates restrictions for third-party brands and marketplace traders to be in line with those of its ASOS own-brand products.
Yvonne Taylor, director of corporate projects for animal rights organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), praised the fashion retailer for its commitment to cruelty-free fashion: “Peta applauds Asos for leading the charge for compassion in fashion. 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.”
Per ASOS’s current animal welfare policies, suppliers are prohibited from using animal-derived materials from vulnerable, endangered, exotic, or wild-caught species as well as fur, including angora and Mongolian lamb’s fur. Leather and wool are still permitted.
Additionally, all makeup and personal care products sold by ASOS are cruelty-free in accordance with the cosmetic animal testing ban, and the brand supports a worldwide ban on cosmetic animal testing. The retailer recently launched a colorful vegan makeup collection in partnership with Crayola.
A number of consumers have inquired with ASOS about it’s stance on silk, as many speculate as to whether or not silk is cruelty-free. The traditional silk-harvesting process entails boiling silkworms alive while they are in their cocoons. Cruelty-free fashion designer Stella McCartney has developed a vegan silk made from yeast and is also known to use “Peace Silk,” a method that allows moths to emerge from their cocoons.
The new policies are a reflection of the growing interest in cruelty-free fashion. Several top fashion brands have recently stopped using fur, such as Versace, Tom Ford, and Gucci, representing an evolving public consciousness surrounding using animals as clothing material.
