California Is Officially the First State to Ban Fur Sales
A law passed in 2019 is now fully in effect.
California has officially become the first state in the U.S. to ban the sale and manufacturing of fur.
Back in 2019, the state passed a law making it unlawful to “sell, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, or otherwise distribute for monetary or nonmonetary consideration a fur product,” which hasn’t been in effect until January 1 of the new year.
The new law only applies to new fur garments, meaning used fur products via nonprofit thrift stores and secondhand shops remain unaffected. It also doesn’t affect products that use leather or shearling. With the law fully in effect, stores like Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus have closed their fur sales, as reported by WWD.
“We are grateful to California for taking a stand against the cruel fur industry by implementing this statewide ban on the production and sale of new fur products. The fact that around 100 million animals are still raised and killed in fur factory farms for nothing more than a fur coat, hat or other product is archaic, especially when humane, environmentally sustainable alternatives exist,” Jenny Berg, California state director for the Humane Society of the United States, shared in a statement. “We applaud California for leading the fight against fur and sending a powerful message that animals should no longer suffer and die for fashion.”
Banning fur is becoming an increasingly common practice across major fashion brands and organizations, with Copenhagen Fashion Week announcing to go fur-free last year. Companies that have done the same include Kering Group across all of its brands, Canada Goose with coyote fur, Nordstrom, Prada Group and more.
