Ecoalf Pledges to Be Down-Free by 2020

After Hearing From PETA, Spanish Clothing Brand Will Drop Feathers From Its Popular Jackets and Coats

For Immediate Release:
April 2, 2019

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA, Spanish retailer Ecoalf has not only debuted a line of “PETA-Approved Vegan” environmentally friendly jackets but also pledged to drop feathers, including down, from all its designs by 2020.

“Today’s shoppers are rejecting cruelty to animals, and that includes ripping out birds’ feathers and leaving the animals bloody so that the feathers can be stuffed into coats,” says PETA Director Anne Brainard. “‘PETA-Approved Vegan’ designs like Ecoalf’s stylish jackets are putting compassion into fashion, and kind-hearted consumers will take notice.”

In the down industry, workers commonly clamp live birds upside down between their knees and tear out handfuls of feathers as the animals struggle and shriek in pain. Birds are often plucked so violently that their skin rips open, leaving them with gaping wounds that workers then sew shut—without giving the animals any pain relief. A PETA exposé of the down industry in China documented that workers on farms connected to “humane”-certified and “responsible” companies left sick and injured geese and ducks to die slowly. Dead birds were found decaying in crates and ponds, and others were tossed outside like trash.

Today’s high-tech synthetic materials—including 3M Thinsulate, DuPont Sorona, PrimaLoft, and Thermore—are luxurious, soft, and warm.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.