Victory! Chico’s, White House Black Market, and Soma Ditch Alpaca Fleece After PETA Appeal

For Immediate Release:
August 31, 2021

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

After meeting with PETA and viewing the group’s first-of-its-kind exposé revealing crying alpacas being roughly shorn, cut open, and left bleeding from deep wounds, locally based Chico’s FAS, Inc.—whose brands include Chico’s, White House Black Market, and Soma—has confirmed that it will not buy alpaca fleece after this year. In thanks, PETA is sending the company a box of delicious vegan chocolates.

“No scarf or sweater is worth terrorizing gentle alpacas,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “The racks at Chico’s will be much kinder without alpaca fleece on them, and PETA is cheering the company’s compassionate decision.”

PETA’s investigation shows that workers slammed alpacas—some of whom were pregnant—onto tables, tied them tightly by the legs to a rack, and pulled hard, nearly wrenching their legs out of their sockets. The terrified animals spit, cried out, and vomited in fear as workers grabbed them by the ears, roughly sheared them, crudely stitched up their bloody cuts, and threw them to the concrete floor.

Chico’s previously banned fur, angora, and mohair after PETA exposés of horrific cruelty and subsequent appeals. The company joins Lands’ End, Williams Sonoma, UNIQLO, Esprit, Ann Taylor, LOFT, Columbia, and many other brands in banning alpaca—and PETA is calling on Anthropologie to follow suit.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. Photos from the investigation are available here. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.