Pamela Anderson Flunks the Walking Company on Vegan-Friendliness

PETA Honorary Director Takes on Retailer’s Reliance on Shearling Boots, Failure to Offer Vegan Leather Shoes

For Immediate Release:
June 16, 2016

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

For the first time, PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—has teamed up with longtime animal advocate and fashion entrepreneur Pamela Anderson to assess the vegan-friendliness of dozens of major retailers and clothing brands across the U.S., grading each one based on its selection of vegan materials, policies on working with animal-derived materials, and efforts to develop cruelty-free fabric technology.

The resulting letter-style grades run the full gamut from “A” to “F,” and one of the bottom-rated retailers is Charlotte-based The Walking Company, which—unlike most other retailers—offers no vegan leather options whatsoever and has yet to eliminate shearling inserts and boots from its collections. The complete rankings are available on PETA’s website.

“If you’re still wearing animals, it’s time for a makeover,” says PETA Honorary Director Pamela Anderson, who can be seen on PETA’s homepage modeling a vegan leather jacket by Zara. “PETA’s ranking of vegan-friendly retailers can help you clean the skeletons out of your closet.”

Stella McCartney and bebe both earned “A” grades, thanks to their bans on angora wool, fur, and exotic skins and their wide selections of vegan leather shoes and vegan wool sweaters. “A-” retailers include H&M, Zara, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Ann Taylor.

Other highlights include “B” grades for The North Face—whose ThermoBall technology, which uses PrimaLoft synthetic fiber, is innovating cruelty-free insulation—and Free People, which has banned fur and angora wool and has launched an exclusive vegan leather collection.

Aldo and Journeys each earned a “C” for offering numerous leather-free shoes—if not in-store, then online—while Buckle, which offers few vegan leather options, narrowly landed a “D.” Joining The Walking Company at the bottom of the list with an “F” are UGG and its sheepskin boots, as well as Burberry and Michael Kors for its fur, leather, and exotic-skins merchandise.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.