Animal rights group welcomes Donna Karan and DKNY fur ban
The Humane Society International (HSI) has welcomed the news from Donna Karan and DKNY that they are to become the latest fashion labels to ban fur from their collections.
Morris Goldfarb of the labels' parent company G-III Apparel announced the decision as the group announced its financial results yesterday.
"As we move forward with both Donna Karan and DKNY we have decided to become fur-free with both brands beginning in fall 2019. This move follows a long-standing relationship with the Humane Society of the United States," Goldfarb said.
The move from Donna Karan and DKNY follows on from the announcement last autumn by Italian luxury house Gucci that it was going fur-free, which prompted similar moves from Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Versace and Furla, while online luxury group Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP) also announced it would no longer sell fur products.
Earlier this week the city of San Franciso said it would be banning the sale of fur from 1 January 2019 with retailers and furriers given until 1 January 2020 to clear current inventories.
HSI's director of international media Wendy Higgins said: "HSI is delighted that since Gucci declared fur to be 'outdated' designers have been racing to prove their relevance by dropping the archaic material.
"In the latest designer declaration... brands DKNY and Donna Karan pledged to ban fur cruelty from their collections, following hot on the heels of Versace and the city of San Francisco, marking the end of a fantastic week for fur-bearing animals."
However Higgins put pressure on British luxury house Burberry and Italian house Fendi, which is famed for its furs, to follow suit. "With each new fur-free announcement, designers like Fendi and Burberry that are still putting cruelty on the catwalk fall further out of fashion," she said.
G-III Apparel acquired the Donna Karan and DKNY brands from LVMH in July 2016; Donna Karan herself had stood down from the labels she founded in the previous year.
The group net sales for the fiscal year ended 31 January 2018 increased 17.6% to $2.81bn from $2.39bn in the prior year. This includes net sales of approximately $258m related to operating the DKNY and Donna Karan business in fiscal year 2018 compared to $28m in net sales from the two months of the prior year that the company owned this business.
GAAP net income for the fiscal year was $62.1m, or $1.25 per diluted share, compared to $51.9m, or $1.10 per diluted share, in the prior year. G-III owns brands such as Vilebrequin, Andrew Marc, Marc New York, Bass, GH Bass and Weejuns and holds licenses for labels such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Karl Lagerfeld.
