Victory for Goats! VF Corporation Says No to Cashmere

For Immediate Release:
September 20, 2023

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA that goats in the cashmere industry scream in pain and fear as they’re tied down and their hair is torn out, VF Corporation—which owns Timberland, The North Face, Vans, Dickies, Supreme, JanSport, and other brands—confirmed that it will no longer use cashmere in any of its products. In thanks, PETA is sending the company a vegan cake decorated with goats.

Photo Credit: Happy Bakeshop

“VF Corporation’s decision is a win for the countless goats who will be spared the agonizing ordeal of having their hair ripped out over and over,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges other companies to follow VF Corporation’s business-savvy lead and drop cashmere.”

A new PETA video exposé of cashmere operations in Mongolia revealed that terrified goats were tied down by their legs and horns while workers ripped out their hair so violently that they sometimes pulled away pieces of skin, leaving some of the animals to suffer with bleeding wounds. A worker used an unsterilized knife to cut open kid goats’ scrotums and pulled out their testicles without pain relief. Goats who were deemed no longer profitable were killed. At a slaughterhouse, workers dragged the goats onto the “kill floor,” hit them over the head with a hammer, and slit their throats in full view of other goats. Afterward, some goats continued to move for over four agonizing minutes.

There are many stylish vegan fabrics available, including soy cashmere, recycled polyester, organic and sustainably farmed hemp and bamboo, and modal and Tencel made from sustainably harvested wood.

VF Corporation joins Victoria’s Secret, Genesco, Overstock, Columbia Sportswear Company, and dozens of other companies that have dropped cashmere. PETA is calling on Naadam, Prada, Burberry, Chanel, and other brands to follow suit.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.