Around 70 clothing retailers, including Hennes & Mauritz AB and Esprit Holdings have decided to ban the 1.5 billion rand ($117 million) Mohair industry in South Africa following the release of a video footage from twelve Angora goat farms in South Africa’s Karoo region.
The footage showed goats being dragged by the legs or horns and sustaining injuries from shearing. A worker decapitating a goat also featured.
Manufacturers from Ascena Retail Group Inc. to Inditex SA, which owns the Zara fashion chain, have now pledged to become “mohair-free.” South Africa produces about 50 percent of the world’s mohair and exports mainly to countries in Asia and Europe, including China, Italy, the UK and Taiwan.
It’s seen as a reliable supplier because the goats grow their fleeces year-round, which allows farmers to auction their produce over two seasons, in summer and winter. Mohair from South Africa is used to make suite by companies such as Ermenegildo Zegna Group.
