Nordstrom on Tuesday became the first major US retailer to say it will stop selling products made from fur and exotic skins.
The upscale department store’s announcement comes a year after Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s said they will no longer sell fur. But it goes a step further by banning products made from the skins of alligators, crocodiles, pythons, kangaroos and ostrich, according to the Humane Society of the United States, which has been working with the department stores.
The Nordstrom ban will go into effect in 2021, the company said.
“Our private label brands haven’t used these materials for years, so extending this policy to all the brands we carry is a natural next step for our business,” said Nordstrom’s chief merchandising officer, Teri Bariquit.
Dozens of major designers and brands, including Chanel, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors have adopted similar policies in recent years as more consumers demand it.
Even Canada Goose, known for the signature coyote-fur trim on its pricey jackets, will stop using new coyote fur starting in 2022, the company said in April.
California also passed a fur ban that goes into effect by 2023, a bill that the Humane Society said it helped to introduce.
“We are now seeing companies racing to have the most effective animal welfare policies in place,” the Humane Society’s director of fashion policy, PJ Smith, told The Post.
Nordstrom was among the first retailers to close its fur salon and to stop selling apparel made from raccoon dogs, Smith added.
