Max Mara goes fur free
Global fashion retailer ditches fur from their range
Each year, over 100 million animals are killed for their fur. Fox, mink, raccoon dogs and chinchillas are confined to cramped, filthy cages that are breeding grounds for infectious diseases, before being killed and skinned for fashion. Yet, the global fur trade is still worth around £17 billion, and some well-known high-end brands continue to sell fur around the world.
With mounting pressure from the public and NGOs, over 1,500 brands including Gucci, Adidas and H&M have gone fur-free and joined the Fur Free Retailer programme. However, some high-end brands such as Dior, Louis Vuitton and Max Mara have refused to change their ways.
So, we had to act.
Since the beginning of 2024, FOUR PAWS UK, alongside the Fur Free Alliance, have been calling on Max Mara to stop using fur in their future collections. Max Mara Fashion Group has 2,500+ stores in 105 countries and was previously selling fur coats, gloves, cuffs and key chains.
WITH YOUR HELP, WE FINALLY MADE MAX MARA GO FUR FREE!
Here’s how:
Heli Dungler officially founded FOUR PAWS, with a large focus on fur farms in Europe. Even decades later, Heli was still shocked by what he witnessed: "Once you've been to a fur farm, you're not the same person afterwards. That is pure violence. And the smell of fear sweat and excrement, you'll never get rid of it again."
FOUR PAWS joins the Fur Free Alliance, an international coalition consisting of over 50 animal protection organisations across the globe, to bring about an end to fur farming and trapping. We also began participating in the Fur Free Retailer program, connecting fur-free companies to consumers seeking ethical goods.
We joined the #FurFreeBritain coalition alongside Humane Society International/UK, Open Cages UK, RSPCA, PETA UK, Viva!, Animal Aid, Save Me Trust and the Jane Goodall Institute, and handed in almost 500,000 signatures calling for a #FurFreeBritain alongside celebrities like Brian May CBE.
The COVID-19 pandemic arrived and highlighted the link between fur farms and the highly infectious spread of zoonotic diseases. The world watched in horror as 20 million mink were culled due to the possibility of COVID-19 mutating within the animals and spreading back to humans as a different variant.
European retailer MADELEINE committed to removing all fur products from their ranges thanks to tens of thousands of FOUR PAWS supporters calling for an end to their cruelty.
Fraser’s Group (who own House of Fraser, Sports Direct and Jack Wills) finally went fur free after years of demonstrations, protests and petitions.
We published our report ‘The frightening reality of the fur industry’ highlighting the environmental and zoonotic risks the fur trade poses, in addition to the extreme animal suffering.
We protested outside one of Max Mara’s London stores, urging them to ban fur in all future ranges. Tens of thousands of people wrote to Max Mara with this same ask, including over 6,500 FOUR PAWS UK supporters
Max Mara removed all fur products from their online store. However, there was no official statement from Max Mara, and they had turned off all comments on their social media platforms. We weren’t sure if this removal of fur was a permanent decision or not.
Just when we were planning our next steps on how to engage with Max Mara, the Chief Executive announced that Max Mara are to officially go fur-free, and stated that they have ‘no intention of introducing fur into any upcoming collection’, following mounting public pressure!
We could not have achieved this momentous success without your help – thank you for all that you continue to do for animals across the globe. We did it!
