WAN Exclusive With ‘Coalition To Abolish The Fur Trade USA’ On Oscar De La Renta Going Fur-Free!

Photos from Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade USA

Oscar de la Renta is the latest luxury brand to join a long list of high fashion designers to announce that it will be going fur-free by October 31st of this year.

This morning, WAN talked with Tyler Lang, Campaign Director for Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade USA (CAFT USA), about the amazing news and how the organization was instrumental in Oscar de la Renta’s decision to announce its plans to eliminate fur completely from the brand’s collection.

“Oscar de la Renta’s commitment to going fur-free is more than a sign of shifting social trends. It is an example of what the grassroots animal rights movement can achieve when we work collaboratively with a well thought out strategy,” Lang told WAN. “The remaining designers that kill animals for fur should take note: CAFT USA won’t stop until the last fur farm closes their doors.”

As noted by the organization, which was established in November 2020 and has already coordinated successful anti-fur campaigns against Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Alice + Olivia, and Monique Lhuillier. They stated that Oscar de la Renta has been moving in this direction for a while.

Prior to this successful campaign, only one fur piece remained for sale on the Oscar de la Renta website. As per Lang, the item was a $20,000 mink coat.

“Within four to five days, the item was removed from the website,” Lang told WAN, further explaining that the organization then sent an email to Oscar de la Renta requesting confirmation that the brand was going fur-free in the future, but they remained evasive. “One thing was very clear at the beginning, Oscar de la Renta was originally reluctant to share anything about going fur-free.”

That is, until a week and a half ago, Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade USA went after one of Oscar de la Renta’s largest investors, GF Capital Management & Advisors LLC. The organization refers to this effective strategy as “secondary targeting.”

According to Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade USA, the institutional investor, owns 20% of the Oscar de la Renta brand. Headquartered in New York City, GF Capital focuses on investments in fashion/design, sports/entertainment, and real estate. Their companies have locations and stakeholders in cities across the country, which allows local activists plenty of opportunities to hold peaceful anti-fur protests and demonstrations, including recent events in Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles, California.

Things escalated once the investor became a target and the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade USA finally received a response from Oscar de le Renta. It that stated: “Oscar de la Renta does not use fur in its fashion collections or sells fur in its stores, and will not in the future. In addition, once the [fur contract] license ‘sell-off’ period ends [on 10/31/2021], no new products that use fur and bear the Oscar de la Renta trademark will be offered for sale.”

You can help all animals and our planet by choosing compassion on your plate and in your glass. #GoVeg