lululemon Execs to Be Blasted for Failing to Protect Birds

PETA to Pressure Retailer to Ditch Down as Protesters Descend on Brick-and-Mortar Store

For Immediate Release:
June 5, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

What:    On Wednesday, a PETA representative will call out executives at lululemon’s virtual annual shareholder meeting over the company’s continued use of cruelly obtained down feathers—and at the same time, protesters will descend on a lululemon store in Vancouver with signs proclaiming, “Wear Your Own Skin.” These actions are the latest in a campaign by PETA to convince the athleisure company to honor the yogic principle of ahimsa—which calls for kindness and compassion for others—by ditching down.

When:    Wednesday, June 6, 11 a.m.

Where:    lululemon, 970 Robson St., Vancouver

“No article of clothing is worth the pain and fear of gentle ducks and geese whose feathers are ripped out over and over again for down,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on lululemon to stop being sour to birds and commit to going down-free immediately.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—notes that in the down industry, workers often pin down birds and rip out their feathers by the fistful, sometimes leaving them with bloody, gaping wounds. Buying down can also support the foie gras industry, as producers often boost their profits by selling the feathers of birds who are force-fed until their livers become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size.

Today’s high-tech synthetic materials—including Thinsulate, Climashield, and PrimaLoft—are warm, cozy, and eco-friendly, and unlike down, they don’t lose their insulating power when wet.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.