Shareholders Want Answers: Is lululemon Losing Sales by Not Switching From Down and Wool?

For Immediate Release:
December 13, 2023

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Vancouver, British Columbia – The demand for ethical consumerism with an emphasis on animal- and environmentally friendly fashion continues to skyrocket, with the market for vegan materials projected to surpass $11 billion in 2027—yet lululemon is a holdout, continuing to sell products made of down, wool, alpaca wool, and cashmere despite exposés revealing that they’re cruelly produced. Is the company driving away compassionate customers by continuing to source and even increase the amount of animal-derived materials it uses? That’s what PETA’s new shareholder resolution aims to find out.

PETA—which owns stock in the company—has submitted the resolution ahead of lululemon’s spring 2024 annual meeting, calling on the company’s board to commission a report that examines whether the company is damaging its reputation and losing sales by continuing to produce and sell these animal-derived materials. The resolution points out that PETA entities have released multiple investigations into the wool, down, cashmere, and alpaca wool industries—which reveal that filthy living conditions, intense suffering, and violent slaughter are the norm and that “responsible” labels are little more than industry humane washing.

An image from PETA Asia’s investigation into a cashmere farm. Credit: PETA

“Every cashmere sweater, wool mitten, and down jacket is made of hair or feathers violently torn from the terrified animals they belonged to,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is a shareholder calling on lululemon to report the true cost of alienating kind customers who refuse to spend their money on brands that perpetuate this horrific cruelty.”

Investigations by PETA entities have revealed workers decapitating conscious geese with a dull axe, stomping on sheep and kicking them in the face, ripping out screaming goats’ hair with sharp metal combs, and leaving alpacas—who were so terrified they vomited in fear—with bloody, gaping wounds after shearing, among many other atrocities.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.