Marks & Spencer has done an about-face on its ban of alpaca wool—and it has earned the ire of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in the process.
The British retailer recently announced that it would be bringing the animal-derived fiber back into its materials portfolio after nixing it in 2020 alongside brands like H&M and Gap. The group was previously pressured by PETA to pull the wool from use after an investigation of the world’s largest alpaca farm revealed the abuse and rough treatment of animals.
In its annual ESG report, released earlier this month, M&S wrote that it began the process of removing the ban on alpaca yarn in 2023. “We don’t have any alpaca yarn in our products but updated our policy last year after a careful review of the updated industry welfare standards reassured us that should we reintroduce it in the future, our strict animal welfare requirements would be met,” the company told Sourcing Journal.
“We value the quality of this [fiber] as well as the traditional know-how linked to its production and believe the Responsible Alpaca Standard (RAS) gives us the confidence we need to start sourcing this [fiber] again,” the group wrote. Moving forward, “the use of this certification will be the minimum standard for all alpaca [fiber] in M&S products,” the report stated.
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The M&S report referred to Textile Exchange’s recently revamped Materials Matter Standard Pilot Version V1.0. Released June 4, the framework includes a retooled RAS that sets criteria regarding best practices for producers and traceability and transparency. Textile Exchange said it began a “sweeping revision of our standards framework to develop a harmonized system that incorporates our current suite of standards, and outcomes focused on our climate and nature strategy” in 2021.
With more producers adopting the RAS, M&S’ doubts about the ethical harvesting of alpaca wool have apparently been assuaged. But PETA vice president for the UK, Europe and Australia Mimi Bekhechi said the reversal represents “a slap in the face to compassionate consumers.”
“Unless it changes its mind, customers will turn their backs on Marks & Spencer—just as it has turned its back on animals and sold out to bogus wool industry standard schemes,” she said in a statement obtained by Sourcing Journal. Bekhechi described PETA’s exposé, which showed crying alpacas, including pregnant animals, being roughly shorn and left bleeding from deep wounds.
Earlier this spring, PETA released a list of more than 60 brands and retailers that have banned alpaca wool, including Ann Taylor, Barbour, Chico’s, Esprit, Express, Helmut Lang, HOKA, Hunter, J Brand, Koolaburra, Lands’ End, Pottery Barn, Prana, REI, Simon Miller, Ugg, Uniqlo, Victoria’s Secret and Vince, among others.
Bekhechi also took aim at the British retailer’s policies for animal-derived materials across the board. “This isn’t the first time M&S has betrayed animals. A PETA Asia investigation previously revealed that the retailer bought feathers from slaughterhouses in Vietnam where workers stab conscious, shrieking ducks in the neck and cut off their legs,” she wrote. “If M&S wants to stay on the high street and in the good graces of today’s conscientious shoppers, it must take the high road and ban alpaca wool—and all animal-derived clothing and accessories—from its stores. And that’s exactly what PETA is calling on it to do.”
In its ESG report, M&S wrote that all feather and down used in its offering are either recycled or certified by internationally known animal welfare standards like the International Down and Feather Laboratory (IDFL) Down Standard, the Responsible Down Standard and the Traceable Down Standard.