MONC IM - Fur-free Decision in Line with Customer, Industry Trends
Italian luxury brand Moncler S.p.A announced on Jan. 25 it would phase out the use of real animal fur in all of its collections by fall 2023. Moncler, known for its premium-priced outerwear, committed to stop sourcing fur by the end of 2022 and said the fall 2023 collection will be the last to include fur.
OTR Global checked in with four luxury apparel buyers in the United States, France and the United Kingdom, who said the main reason Moncler decided to go fur-free was because customers will no longer buy items made with real fur. “It seems most companies are going this way. It’s a good move. A lot of people won’t purchase an item specifically if it has fur on it,” a U.S. buyer said.
Buyers also said Moncler had to eliminate real fur from its collections because other luxury brands had already made the commitment. Valentino S.p.A., Prada S.p.A., Capri Holdings Ltd.’s Versace, Kering S.A.’s Gucci and Canada Goose Holdings Inc. announced plans to end the use of fur in the past year. “It’s the way of the land. [Moncler] had to do it because everyone is doing it,” a U.S. buyer said.
Buyers believe eliminating fur would not affect demand for Moncler as much as it would for its luxury outerwear competitor Canada Goose, which announced on June 24 it would end the use of fur in its products with the fall 2022 collection. (See OTR Global’s July, October and January reports.) Canada Goose’s coyote fur-trim parkas have been a selling point among some customers, particularly in Canada and China where fur is less taboo. “It’s not a big risk for Moncler. It’s not associated with fur. Our boutique already sells very little fur, and we do great business with Moncler. It’s contemporary and modern in its branding and drives a similar clientele so leaving out fur will not unbalance brand and collections. It’s a positive and ethical move,” a French buyer said.
Lack of customer interest along with online retailer Farfetch Ltd. banning real fur sales on its platform prompted a U.K. buyer to stop buying products made with real fur. “I think no fur being used is a good thing. Most of our client base and contemporary brands now use faux fur instead anyway so I don’t think it will have as much impact as it used to. We sell through Farfetch. It banned a lot of furs to use over the last few seasons so we don’t actually buy fur products anymore either,” the source said.
It’s unknown whether Moncler will increase prices on its fur products as Canada Goose has done. In OTR Global’s January report, buyers said prices increased $300–$400 on Canada Goose’s fall 2022 fur trim parkas and the brand will offer fur items to interested customers in its retail stores.
