FOUR PAWS Guide with 60 Newly Rated Fashion Brands
21.11.2025 | from FOUR PAWS - Foundation for Animal Welfare
Reading time: 4 minutes
21.11.2025, As a counterbalance to Black Friday discount battles, the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS evaluates new fashion brands in its Wear it Kind brand compass for animal-friendly fashion. With 60 newly rated companies such as Diesel, Fendi, and Dior, more than 300 fashion brands are now featured in the ranking. The assessment examined each company's commitment to complying with animal welfare certifications, eschewing wool from mulesing, avoiding down, banning fur, and reducing the use of animal materials overall. A YouGov survey from the previous year revealed that over 80% of participants in twelve countries worldwide believe that fashion companies should reduce the use of animal materials and invest in animal-friendly alternatives.
In the run-up to Black Friday next week, companies are outdoing each other with offers, and the fashion industry is heavily involved. "By choosing fashion items made with compassion for animals, everyone can help protect millions of sheep, geese, and fur-bearing animals suffering from mutilations or killed for their fur. The most animal-friendly fashion items are even completely animal-free," says Leony Malthaner, Campaigner at FOUR PAWS Switzerland.
Brands as Pioneers and Laggards
The Wear it Kind brand compass shows that more and more fashion brands are taking meaningful steps to improve animal welfare, including leading companies like COS, Cecil, and H&M. The companies that have improved the most compared to the previous year are H&M and Zadig & Voltaire, which have been recognised for their particularly positive measures in eliminating severe animal welfare issues, such as mulesing and live-plucking in the wool and down categories. At the other end of the spectrum are luxury giants Dior, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton, which continue to use fur and have not yet taken steps to avoid it in the future. The luxury segment also performs the worst overall and has the highest proportion of fashion brands that have not taken actions, especially towards reducing the use of fur and down.
"FOUR PAWS is committed to ensuring that animals are not forgotten in the discussion about ethics in fashion. The Wear It Kind brand compass allows consumers to make animal welfare-oriented decisions with just a few clicks, contributing significantly to the welfare of millions of animals used in the global fashion industry," explains Malthaner.
Focus on Wool, Down and Fur
The brand compass has found that 94% of assessed companies have taken measures against mulesing – a significant milestone considering that wool is the most commonly used animal fibre in the global fashion industry. Mulesing is an avoidable, painful procedure performed on merino lambs, which is carried out on the majority of merino sheep in Australia to prevent flystrike and affects over 10 million lambs annually. The ranking not only takes into account fashion brands that avoid mulesing but also those that do not use fur or live-plucked down and instead employ more animal-friendly materials.
Down in puffer jackets, outdoor clothing, and duvets often comes from geese in intensive farming conditions. Many animals suffer from the cruel practice of live-plucking. In live-plucking, geese have their feathers torn out brutally without any pain relief, often resulting in injuries and fractures, sometimes leading to death. This practice is carried out up to five to six times weekly. As the feathers grow back finer each time, there is an incentive for breeders to repeat this often. Birds held for breeding purposes in so-called parent stock farms are particularly at risk of this practice. FOUR PAWS is of the opinion that existing certifications cannot sufficiently exclude this risk due to the inherent challenges of supply chains and advises opting for certified recycled down.
The global animal welfare organisation also recommends steering clear of fur. There is no animal-friendly fur production, and even the certification programs of the fur industry do not offer adequate animal welfare standards. Additionally, real fur is often not clearly labeled and cannot be reliably distinguished from faux fur in terms of appearance or price.
Media Contact:
Oliver Loga
Press Manager Switzerland
FOUR PAWS – Foundation for Animal Welfare
Altstetterstrasse 124
8048 Zurich
Tel. +41 43 311 80 90
presse@vier-pfoten.ch
www.vier-pfoten.ch
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Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher.
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FOUR PAWS - Foundation for Animal Welfare
FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals directly under human influence, recognising grievances, rescuing animals in need, and protecting them. Founded in 1988 by Heli Dungler and friends in Vienna, the organisation advocates for a world where people treat animals with respect, compassion, and understanding.
The focus of its sustainable campaigns and projects is on stray dogs and cats, as well as companion, farm, and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, and orangutans – from inappropriate keeping conditions and disaster and conflict zones.
With offices in Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Great Britain, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the USA, and Vietnam, as well as shelters for needy animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid assistance and long-term solutions. In Switzerland, the foundation for animal welfare is a cooperation partner of the Arosa Bear Land, the first bear protection centre that provides rescued bears from poor keeping conditions a species-appropriate home.
Note: The "About Us" text is taken from public sources or from the company profile on HELP.ch.
Source: FOUR PAWS - Foundation for Animal Welfare, Press release
Original article published on: VIER PFOTEN-Ratgeber mit 60 neu bewerteten Modemarken