Saga Furs’ profits nose-dive as fashion houses and consumers turn their backs on fur

Saga Furs’ end of year financial report, released yesterday, shows the company’s income has dropped sharply (by 20 per cent) between 1.11.2017 and 31.10.2018 and the group’s pre-tax profit has decreased from €9.2 million in 2016-2017 to minus €1.7 million (a decrease of €10.9 million).

The report in part blames the plethora of recent fashion house fur bans such as Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors and Versace, as well as image issues around animal suffering that fur has in the West, and a slow-down in Chinese markets.

The report also states that world mink production is estimated to have fallen by 20 per cent in 2018, prices for mink and fox skins fell by 24 per cent and 20 percent respectively compared to the previous year.

Humane Society International UK Executive Director Claire Bass said: “Saga Furs’ plummeting profits clearly show an industry on the wrong side of history. In 2018 we saw a domino effect of the world’s top designers including Gucci, Versace and Burberry adopting fur-free policies and the fur trade is clearly reeling from that punch with fur prices plunging and a €10.9million fall in the company’s profits. Saga Furs is absolutely right to cite ‘image challenges in the western market’ as a key problem; the image of beautiful wild animals trapped for their whole lives in tiny battery cages before being gassed and electrocuted is tragic and brutal, and it’s an image that no future-focused designer or retailer wants tainting their brand. Investors in the fur trade will no doubt be taking a long hard look at a loss-making business whose financial results are as dismal as the suffering it causes to millions of animals.”

Recent fur farm investigations, such as HSI’s Finnish investigation which can be seen here, have lead to increased awareness amongst consumers of the harsh realities of the fur trade. Worldwide, more than 100 million animals including fox, raccoon dogs and mink are subjected to the physical and psychological torment of intensive confinement, and the killing methods typically used on fur farms are equally distressing. Mink are typically killed by gassing, and fox and raccoon dogs by anal electrocution.

Saga Furs’ report in part blames its drop in income on the increasing number of fashion designers and retailers dropping fur cruelty. In the last two years alone, huge fashion brands such as Chanel, Gucci, Coach, Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, Michael Kors, Versace, Burberry, Donna Karan and Jimmy Choo and other high-profile brands have announced fur-free policies, at the same time that fur sales bans have been put into law in major US cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles. Today, Hawaii introduced a bill that would ban fur sales within the state, and California introduced a similar bill last month.