Lady LUX

Maybe you wear it. Maybe you don’t. But if you live in West Hollywood, the answer may now be more likely to be you don’t. The high-end retail streets of the town may become the first city across the country to prohibit selling apparel made with fur, reported WWD.

Last night, the city council began the process of adopting an ordinance that would ban sales of clothing that featured any kind of animal pelt or skins with fur or hair. The potential new prohibition would follow on the heels of other animal-friendly policies established by the high-profile city, such as a ban on cat declawing and peddling dogs from puppy mills breeding facilities.

“West Hollywood has always been on the leading edge of progressive, compassionate legislation. We are thrilled that this historic first has taken place right here in West Hollywood,” Shannon Keith, an advocate from Fur Free West Hollywood, an organization backing the possible ordinance, said to WWD.

The ban will have serious implications for the multitude of luxury stores in the area, including Balenciaga, Arcade, H Lorenzo, Alberta Ferretti, Jenni Kayne, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Beckley. Some of these retailers have voiced strong resistance to the proposed prohibition, with groups such as the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and The Avenues, a fashion district in West Hollywood, penning letters West Hollywood Mayor John Duran to articulate their opposition.

“It is a completely antibusiness stance,” Darren Gold, chairman of The Avenues, said to WWD. “They are really shortsighted to think they can restrict what merchants in this economy can and cannot sell. They don’t know how retail works, and they clearly showed it last night.”

A recent study, backed by fur industry group Fur Information Council of America, found that 46 percent of fashion stores in West Hollywood offer merchandise with fur.

“It is a way to force areas of the world to evolve to the best possible standards,” said Keith Kaplan, the executive director of the fur council, which encourages labeling clothes with the source of the fur instead of restricting sales. The organization may file a lawsuit to prevent the fur ordinance.

The next step for the city council will be to approve a second reading of the ban before it is enacted. Banned materials would include fox, chinchilla, rabbit, mink, seal, sheep and bear; however, sales of leather and wool fiber would be permitted. Going into effect June 30, the ordinance could include penalties for stores who ignore the new restriction.

“It is a problem for us because we have [fur] stuff that we have already bought in the store, and we have stuff that we have bought for next season and the season after,” said Andrew Dryden, creative director of the men’s and women’s fashion retailer H Lorenzo. “I don’t see us complying anytime soon.”

Maribel Louie, West Hollywood’s economic development analyst, reports this concern over inventory is why the city council chose June to begin the ban. “They wanted to be sensitive for businesses to sell fur in their stock. They wanted to give ample time for clearance sales,” she explained.

Despite concern over retailers leaving the town in favor of cities that permit fur sales, the council members voted unanimously for approving the ban. “They feel very strongly about the protection of animals,” Louie said.

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