Oscar de La Renta No Longer Using Fur

Oscar de la Renta will no longer be selling fur.

The iconic fashion house began phasing out the use of fur in its collections two years ago, while it allowed its fur license to expire in April. Fur products bearing the label are expected to sell out at retailers by the end of October.

It is understood the decision to stop using fur was reached in 2019 among senior management of the fashion house as well as with designers Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia.

De la Renta’s decision to stop using fur was unrelated to actions last month by the Coaltion to Abolish the Fur Trade USA, which on Monday issued a statement proclaiming the brand would stop using fur by the end of October.

The coalition is understood to have emailed de la Renta executives in early July to demand it stop using fur, and five days later staged a protest in the fashion house’s Madison Avenue store. In late July, representatives of the coalition protested at, and vandalized, de la Renta’s store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles.

De la Renta will be joining a good number of other brands in its pledge to go fur-free. In June, the Neiman Marcus Group also announced it would no longer be using fur. The new policy eliminates animal fur products from Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores and websites and calls for shutting down the fur salons at both divisions. Neiman Marcus has 21 fur salons in stores; Bergdorf’s has one fur salon.

Canada Goose, known for its popular parkas with the fur trim, said it would stop purchasing fur by the end of this year and cease manufacturing with fur no later than the end of 2022.

“The decision is driven by our purpose and our focus on sustainability and innovation,” Dani Reiss, president and chief executive officer, told WWD in an interview. “We know that consumers are putting more importance on brands and their sustainability.