HUGO BOSS Adopts Fur-Free Policy

German fashion company HUGO BOSS has pledged to remove all farmed-fur—including Angora wool, down feathers from live-plucked or force-fed birds, and the materials from any endangered species—from its future collections by late 2016. The luxury brand worked with the Humane Society of the United States and the Fur Free Alliance to formulate this change, which comes as part of multiple animal-welfare reforms that appeared in the company’s updated sustainability report. Additionally, HUGO BOSS has decided to give preferential treatment to merino wool suppliers that do not use the technique of mulesing (the removal of wool-bearing skin), aiming to be 90 percent mulesing-free by 2020. The brand joins the ranks of other luxury labels such as Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ralph Lauren that have pledged their fur-free allegiance, too. “We want to use this to provide an even stronger motivation for our experts and designers in the future and to promote the fun in developing future-oriented alternatives,” the company said.