aGameOfThrones
09-27-2011, 04:25 AM
A unanimous City Council vote last week to ban the sale of fur apparel has outraged the fashion industry, one of the primary businesses this tiny city, wedged between Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, has worked hard to attract.
The ban applies to fur sold as apparel, not as furnishings or other uses. That means some big interior design retailers in West Hollywood won't have to rid their stores of fur rugs, pillows or chair coverings, Kaplan says.
A chamber study found that of 197 fashion retail businesses in the city, 46% carry fur products.
She says that as a result of the vote, managers of three large stores in the city are seeking to get out of their leases, one of them with 70 employees.
She declined to name them and said retailers fear retaliation from anti-fur activists if they confront the issue in public. Few store owners agreed to be interviewed and none would be photographed for the same reason.
"West Hollywood wanted to be first, wanted to make news," Morrill says. "Well, they're making news. This is absolutely hypocritical for this city. It's arbitrary — you can sit on it but you can't wear it. But you can eat meat, wear leather, have silk."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-26/west-hollywood-fur-sales-ban/50560364/1
The ban applies to fur sold as apparel, not as furnishings or other uses. That means some big interior design retailers in West Hollywood won't have to rid their stores of fur rugs, pillows or chair coverings, Kaplan says.
A chamber study found that of 197 fashion retail businesses in the city, 46% carry fur products.
She says that as a result of the vote, managers of three large stores in the city are seeking to get out of their leases, one of them with 70 employees.
She declined to name them and said retailers fear retaliation from anti-fur activists if they confront the issue in public. Few store owners agreed to be interviewed and none would be photographed for the same reason.
"West Hollywood wanted to be first, wanted to make news," Morrill says. "Well, they're making news. This is absolutely hypocritical for this city. It's arbitrary — you can sit on it but you can't wear it. But you can eat meat, wear leather, have silk."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-26/west-hollywood-fur-sales-ban/50560364/1