Global Brands Group Bans Ostrich Products After Hearing From PETA

Company Ditches Skin and Feathers From Birds After Investigation Shows That They’re Electrically Shocked and Plucked Alive for Pockmarked Bags

For Immediate Release:
June 28, 2016

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA that ostrich-derived items are produced by shocking, slaughtering, plucking, and skinning the smart and sensitive young birds, Hong Kong–based Global Brands Group agreed to ban ostrich skin and feathers from its controlled brands—including Frye, Juicy Couture, Spyder, Aquatalia, David Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, Jones New York, Rachel Zoe, Buffalo, Joe’s, Rosetti, Tignanello, and Kathy Van Zeeland.

“As customers increasingly turn away from the cruelty of the exotic-skins industry, Global Brands Group’s ethical decision also makes sound business sense,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “With such a vast array of stylish cruelty-free shoes, purses, belts, and wallets available, PETA is encouraging all companies to wash their hands of the bloody business of slaughtering animals for their skins.”

By refusing to carry items made from ostriches, Global Brands Group has made the first step toward joining the many top retailers that have already banned all exotic skins—including Ann Inc., H&M, Topshop, Adolfo Domínguez, Mango, bebe, Cole Haan, Nike, Adidas, and more. Earlier this year, PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—released the first-ever exposé of the highly secretive ostrich industry, in which young ostriches are kept in barren dirt feedlots until they are trucked to slaughterhouses. There, workers turn the 1-year-old birds upside down in a stunner, eject them to slit their throats, and pluck their feathers out to create the bumpy-textured skin seen on handbags.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.