N.y. department store accused of illegal fur labeling

New You are able to Mall Century 21 is charged with mislabeling fur clothes. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Store Century 21 stated it isn't accountable for mislabeled fur items offered in the shops.

"Century 21 doesn't create outfit labels, the producers do. It's the manufacturer's responsibility to supply a precise account of materials utilized in the outfit and also to be transparent using the consumer before their purchase," Century 21 stated inside a statement to ABCNews.com.

But a brand new You are able to condition legislator and also the U.S. Humane Society view it in a different way.

"It is the ultimate responsibility from the store," New You are able to assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal told ABCNews.com. "They are fully aware what they are buying. They need to make certain it's correctly labeled."

Rosenthal authored the law which was passed in 2007 that managed to get illegal in New You are able to to market or manufacture clothes with any volume of fur which was not correctly called faux fur or real fur.

"I needed to really make it very obvious for customers who frequently decide to spend money according to be it real or faux fur," Rosenthal stated. "It's not easy to inform.Inch

To accept uncertainty from it, the brand new You are able to law needed that both producers and merchants become accountable for labeling fur-bearing clothes, whether that meant doing this on the label, hangtag or sticker.

Century 21 first received Rosenthal's radar if this opened up stores in New You are able to and didn't react to Rosenthal's welcome letter telling the store of recent York's fur-labeling law. Customers later came forward, Rosenthal stated, telling her that Century 21 wasn't labeling its clothes properly.

In The month of january, Rosenthal and Pierre Grzybowski, research and enforcement manager from the fur-free campaign for that U.S. Humane Society, carried out some pot undercover analysis of Century 21 shops in New You are able to City.

Grzybowski has brought several research of merchants through the nation, including Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman.

"Certainly one of my primary job duties would be to safeguard customers and creatures by discovering misconstrued animal fur," Grzybowski told ABCNews.com. With each and every analysis, Grzybowski stated he found animal fur either wrongly marketed, wrongly labeled, unlabeled or misconstrued by sales people.

"Real fur may be the animal skin using the fur still attached," Grzybowski stated. "Fake fur is really a mesh or fabric backing using the materials woven in it.Inch

In September, Grzybowski purchased three Marc by Marc Jacobs jackets, marketed around the Century 21 website as getting "faux fur trim." Once they showed up, the jackets' labels read "100% REAL RACCOON FUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN CHINA." A lab test of among the Marc by Marc Jacobs jackets demonstrated the existence of raccoon dog, Grzybowski stated.

This discovery, the Humane Society and Rosenthal required their analysis to 2 brick-and-mortar stores in New You are able to City later in The month of january. Grzybowski stated he could place real fur in a number of clothes which were labeled by Century 21 as "faux fur" or otherwise labeled through the store or even the manufacturer whatsoever.

Later tests through the Humane Society's lab indicated the clothes contained real fur.

"The main reason this really is essential happens because creatures are horribly roughed up for fur production. So someone who would like to avoid supporting live skinning of raccoon dogs should not need to bother about getting duped by advertisements or labels," Grzybowski stated.

Both Grzybowski and Rosenthal think that merchants are simply as responsible as producers for ensuring everything they offer is properly marketed and labeled in compliance with New You are able to condition law.

"This can be a cautionary tale for other merchants. Customers deserve to be aware what they're buying,Inch Rosenthal stated.

The analysis into Century 21s fur-labeling practices is simply the newest, Grzybowski stated. "Regrettably," he stated, "we do not think it will likely be the final.Inch