One of three products sold recently on the Neiman Marcus website that were labeled as “faux fur” but which contained real fur. In this case, the boot’s inner label explicitly states “Real fur.”
Two years ago, Neiman Marcus and two other retailers settled a Federal Trade Commission complaint that they had sold “faux fur” products on their websites that contained actual animal fur. As part of that agreement, the upscale department store was permanently enjoined from “falsely or deceptively advertising any fur product by misrepresenting or failing to disclose that the fur in any fur product is faux or fake.” However, a new petition filed with the FTC alleges the Neiman Marcus has continued to sell products that appear to violate this agreement.
The Humane Society of the U.S. has filed the petition [PDF] with the FTC, asking the agency to investigate and “take prompt action” against Neiman Marcus. This could include the imposition of monetary penalties for alleged violations of the Fur Products Labeling Act and the 2013 FTC order.
According to the petition, the HSUS says it was able to identify three products for sale on the Neiman website that were advertised as containing “faux fur,” but which testing later revealed to contain actual animal fur.
One boot was sold as “faux fur” on the website and its label stated “Contains Faux Fur, 55% Polyester 45% Acrylic.” HSUS testing of the product turned up real fur, a fact that Neiman later confirmed to HSUS.
A second boot design from the same maker was described on NeimanMarcus.com as a “weatherproof stretch microfiber boot with faux-fur (polyester/acrylic) trim,” however the actual label for the product reads “Real Fur, Dyed Rabbit.” Testing by HSUS confirmed the presence of animal fur. See above for image.
The third product mentioned in the petition is another supposedly “faux fur”-lined boot whose label disagrees with this claim. This time, the label inside the boot read, “Real Fur from rabbit, Fur Origin China.”
As of right now (April 13, 2015), this particular boot is still listed on the Neiman Marcus site as a “faux fur product”:
“Many Americans are opposed to buying or wearing animal fur because they object to rabbits, foxes, coyotes and other animals suffering and dying for frivolous trimmings on jackets and shoes,” reads a statement from HSUS. “American consumers deserve to have the facts, and should be able to make socially-conscious decisions while shopping.”
We’ve reached out to Neiman Marcus regarding the allegations made in the petition and will update if we hear anything back.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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