Vienna, 11 May 2025 – Flowers, candy, a scarf: Gifting on Mother’s Day is a heart-warming custom in many countries around the world. The loving relationship between mother and child that is celebrated among humans is too often destroyed in the animal kingdom. For example, in the global fashion industry, where live cutting of lambs and repeated live plucking of mother geese account for some of the cruelest routine procedures affecting millions of animals per year. Luckily, many fashion brands – such as global brands H&M and ba&sh – have already incorporated many animal-friendly policies, while Stella McCartney,  Armedangels and Patagonia are leading an ever-growing trend towards more kindness within the fashion industry, a value desired by many consumers. These are some of the brands featured in the Wear it Kind Brand Directory by global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS. The Directory empowers customers to avoid low-welfare supply chains and make kinder fashion choices, all while encouraging fashion brands to step up their animal welfare commitments.

"At H&M, we believe fashion should work towards solutions that are better for people, planet, and animals. Initiatives like the Wear It Kind Directory help showcase the progress brands are making towards a more responsible and compassionate fashion future,” says Madelene Ericsson Ryman, Sustainability Specialist, H&M Group.

Sign of the times: Fur is fully out of style and kindness is trending

More and more international fashion brands are ditching fur, with 82% of the brands from the directory strictly and publicly prohibiting fur. The renunciation of live lamb cut wool has also become more and more common, with 67% of all rated companies claiming they will ditch uncertified wool by 2030. In contrast to this, the phasing out of live plucking for down is only establishing itself very slowly with only 10% of brands properly mitigating this issue: 229 out of 256 companies still use down, although almost half (47%) of them already use certified down. A major drawback is that these certifications do not guarantee to include parent farms* where the risk of live plucking is especially high.

“We offer an alternative vision where fashion can be luxurious while having a deep respect for our shared land, a commitment to human wellbeing, and compassionate care for animals. The common thread is our inherent belief in our interconnectedness. In an industry so dependent upon products derived from animals, animal welfare is often an absent or minimal part of broader conversations on sustainability and ethics. The work of FOUR PAWS is vital. We hope the Wear It Kind Directory continues to encourage greater transparency in the industry while providing a tangible solution for people to make better choices,“ says Vanessa Barboni Hallik, Founder and Co-CEO of Another Tomorrow.

Protect the bond between mothers and their young 
In Australia, the world’s leading producer of fine merino wool, lambs must survive the critical and often harsh period of lambing (birthing) only to be torn from their mothers weeks after their birth to face the cruel practice of live lamb cutting (mulesing) alone. Mulesing can add an additional 4% to the already high number of lamb deaths: Ten million lambs die every year because of a range of issues, including birthing difficulties, inappropriate husbandry practices or environment (e.g. lack of shelter), as well as poor breeding choices.

“Lambs that suffer in silence, geese that are plucked alive and mink that are killed for their fur – the suffering of animals used for the fashion industry is immense. Let’s keep animal mothers and their young safe this Mother’s Day and every day. The Wear it Kind Brand Directory is a source of reference for consumers to make kind choices and a guide for brands to see where the industry is heading. A future in which dressing up and gifting with love, does not require the suffering and killing of animals,” says Rustam.

Background
Overall use: Over five billion animals are used or killed annually by the fur, leather, down, and woolen fibre industries for fashion. Most of them will only get to live a fraction of their normal lifespan, with many suffering unnecessary pain, fear and stress due to cruel mutilation practices and inadequate living conditions for the sake of clothing.

*Parent farms are facilities where geese are kept for extended periods for breeding purposes. These mother geese are especially vulnerable to live plucking, as repeatedly plucked animals are considered to have higher quality feathers. With each round of painful plucking, their feathers grow back finer and more valuable than before, turning their suffering into a cycle of cruelty.

Wild animals on fur farms are not spared from incredible pain and suffering. The needs of the mother animals and their cubs are not met under the cramped farm conditions. Their short life is spent in tiny wire mesh cages in close proximity to others and with inadequate space and nesting material. The highly stressful environment can lead to abnormal behavior such as fur-chewing and tail-biting but also to reproductive failure and infant mortality. Mothers being hunted or trapped in the wild for the sake of fashion threatens the life of their offsprings. Left to survive on their own, they become vulnerable to dying a slow and painful death due to starvation, dehydration or becoming prey for other animals.

The Wear it Kind Brand Directory
With over 250 international brands rated, customers can easily make animal-friendly fashion choices and look out for brands that are free from live lamb cutting, live plucking and fur. It also highlights fashion brands that are using next-gen materials, working to replace outdated ADMs. Brands rated green in the Reduction category of the directory are often found to be using alternative leather-like materials, made from plant waste such as apple and pineapple waste as used in Leap and Piñatex, mushroom based leathers such as Reishi ™, as well as plant-based feather-like insulative materials, such as Primaloft® made from post-consumer materials, and fur-replacements such as BioFluff and KOBA – made from partially or fully plant-based ingredients.

In 2024 a global YouGov poll was conducted by FOUR PAWS among 11,000 shoppers in twelve countries (Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States) showing that a vast majority of people are concerned about the treatment of animals in global fashion production.