Fashion Director Fired Over Fur?

Harvey Nichols, an upscale UK department store, has followed a strict no-fur policy for the past decade. That all changed when Paula Reed was appointed the new fashion director of the store and began reintroducing garments that included the fur from foxes, rabbits and raccoons.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) supporters and anti-fur advocates sent the department store over 5,000 emails and social media messages urging Reed to stop the sale of fur. According to the Daily Mail, PETA also contacted the store’s chief executive, Joseph Wan, and staged a protest outside its Leeds branch on Friday, when Miss Reed resigned.

On their UK blog, PETA writes, “After receiving confirmation in a meeting with Joseph Wan that Reed was single-handedly responsible for breaking Harvey Nichols’ strict, decade-long policy against selling fur, we hope her resignation will pave the way for the reinstatement of the store’s previous, well-respected policy.”

However, on the Vogue UK website, Wan claims “There was neither a causal link nor indeed any connection between the change in the company’s fur policy and the resignation of its fashion director, Paula Reed.”

In either outcome, it’s a good move on Harvey Nichol’s part to hold true on it’s ban on selling fur in the end. It is extremely unfortunate that they allowed the ban to be broken in the first place, but hopefully they understand that cruelty in fashion is not what the public wants.