Yorkshire online fashion business in hot water over "misleading" faux fur ads

Sorelle Brand UK Ltd (Sorelle), the online retail company based in Sheffield, claimed on its website last year three product listings for jackets as "faux fur."

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) last week upheld a complaint filed by the Humane Society International (HSI) that the “faux fur” claims made on Sorelle’s website, regarding specific items, were not substantiated nor verified.

Initially the ASA had received a complaint from (HSI) about “faux fur” claims made on Sorelle’s website regarding their bobble hat products. It is understood by the ASAthat HSI had bought a bobble hat from Sorelle and found that the hat’s label stated that it contained marmot fur.

The Sheffield-based company were asked to check the labels for all the other products labelled “faux fur” on their website and to send images of those labels, and explain what steps they had taken to test the products to ensure that they did not contain animal fur.

In response Sorelle removed the “faux fur” claims from their bobble hats, but those claims continued to appear in the three product listings for jackets. As seen on the company's website, it stated: “River Faux Fur Jacket – Black”, “River Faux Fur Jacket – Pink”, and “River Faux Fur Jacket – White”, alongside images of models wearing the products, in December 2019.

The online company did not provide any explanation or the supporting evidence the ASA had requested and it was referred for a formal investigation and ruling by the UK's regulator of advertising.

However, the online retail company did not provide any supporting evidence to show that their jackets contained exclusively faux fur. The ASA concluded that the ad was misleading and breached the UK code of non-broadcast advertising and direct and promotional marketing (CAP code).

The ASA has ruled the product listings must not appear again in their current form. Consumers should expect products advertised as “faux fur” to contain no real animal fur.

Sorelle Brand UK Ltd has been instructed not to make “faux fur” claims in their advertising if they did not hold evidence to demonstrate that their products contained exclusively faux fur with no real animal fur. Consumers should expect products advertised as “faux fur” to contain no real animal fur.

The Yorkshire Post has contacted Sorelle Brand UK Ltd for a response.

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