A World Animal Protection investigation into feather
farms and feather processing facilities in South Africa
confirms ostriches are having their feathers pulled out with
pliers to supply luxury fashion brands and fast
fashion.
The investigation documented rare video
evidence of this process. In this footage, a male ostrich is
being cornered by workers before a bag is then placed over
the bird’s head to placate him and his feathers are cut
and pulled from his skin using pliers. This is done without
any pain relief.
Today, the global animal welfare
organisation, together with Collective Fashion Justice,
released a new report, Blood
Feathers, which spotlights the animal suffering on
commercial ostrich feather farms supplying the fashion
industry. This report comes in the wake of New Zealand
Fashion Week continuing to ignore calls to implement a
wildlife-friendly policy, which includes a ban on ostrich
feathers.
The investigation focuses on farms in South
Africa where 75% of the world’s ostrich products are
produced, including those made from feathers, meat and
skin.
Key findings:
Investigators captured
rarely-seen footage of feather cutting, where feathers are
cut above the bloodline then later pulled from the skin with
pliers.
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At one farm visited, ostriches were described
as being live plucked every six months. Blood is often found
in the shaft of these feathers when plucked, which led to
the industry coining the term “blood
feathers”.
Farms and feather processing facilities
in the region confirmed that they supply to YSL, Louis
Vuitton, Dior and Chanel, as well as fast fashion giant
Shein.
Investigators saw birds injured, showing
aggression and unable to stand. Some were wounded from
pecking at each other’s eyes and feathers.
Olivia
Charlton, Campaign Manager at World Animal Protection
said:
“Feathers are the new fur – it’s the same
cruelty just with a different animal. Most people have no
idea what happens to these birds for a feather trim.
They’re cornered, bagged and have their feathers pulled
out with pliers, with no pain relief. When the industry
itself coined the term ‘blood feathers’, you know the
cruelty is hiding in plain sight. There’s nothing natural
about pulling out a bird’s feathers with pliers. It’s
time fashion took its head out of the sand.”
Emma
Håkansson, Founding Director at Collective Fashion Justice
said:
“It is utterly inconsistent for the fashion
industry to have largely banned fur, only to shift to
ostrich feathers which also come from a slaughtering
industry full of suffering. Many brands, fashion councils
and runways have banned ostrich skins, yet permit the
feathers that come from the very same supply
chain.
“With so many innovative fabric manipulation
techniques and bio-materials available to create the same
lightness, volume and movement consumers admire in feathers,
there is no justification for this cruelty. These birds are
exploited while the public is led to believe it’s done in
a ’natural’ and ‘responsible’ way.”
The
natural moult myth sold to shoppers
In the 2024/25
season, 150,000 ostriches were slaughtered in South Africa
for the feather, meat and skin trades. Furthermore, over 150
tonnes of ostrich feathers were exported from South Africa
around the globe. The fashion industry often repeats the
claim that feathers come from an ostrich’s natural moult,
but this investigation found it is impossible to rely on
natural moulting at the scale the industry
demands.
Ostriches are social, emotionally aware
animals. In the wild they can live 30 to 40 years but in the
feather trade, they are killed in a fraction of that time.
Birds bred for high-quality wing feathers can endure years
of cutting or plucking before slaughter. Those bred for
lower-quality feathers are plucked once and killed as
babies, at just 10 to 14 months old.
What New
Zealanders think:
New polling commissioned for the
report shows how little the public knows, and how strongly
they react when they find out.*
Roughly half of New
Zealanders (49%) believe ostrich feathers are collected
during natural shedding. Just 16% of New Zealanders know
live birds are plucked.
Once they know the reality,
82% of New Zealanders agree that farming and killing
ostriches for fashion should be banned.
79% of New
Zealanders see brands that use ostrich feathers as less
ethical and sustainable.
New Zealand Fashion Week
still turning a blind eye
For two years, World Animal
Protection has called on New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) to
adopt a wildlife-friendly policy.
Karen Walker and THE
ICONIC showed at this year’s event, and both have policies
protecting ostriches. Fashion Weeks around the world – from
Sydney and Melbourne, to Copenhagen and Berlin – have all
moved to restrict wild animal materials, including ostrich
feathers.
Olivia Charlton, Campaign Manager at World
Animal Protection said:
“New Zealand Fashion Week has
an opportunity to reflect the direction fashion is moving
and show that compassion and creativity can go hand in hand.
Introducing a wildlife-friendly policy would be a meaningful
step for animals and would place NZFW alongside fashion
events that are embracing higher animal welfare
standards.”
There are brands already saying
no
A wave of A-list celebrities have worn ostrich
feathers on the Met Gala and Oscars red carpets, and the
trend has trickled down from luxury houses to fast fashion.
But some key players in the fashion industry are rejecting
ostrich feathers and embracing positive change.
Karen
Walker, Forever New, Glassons, THE ICONIC and ASOS have
introduced policies protecting ostriches, alongside UK
retailers NEXT, Debenhams, Wolf & Badger and
Selfridges.
Producers like FEVVERS, a plant-based
alternative to feathers, are collaborating with luxury
brands like Stella McCartney to bring innovative feather
mimicry to the runway.
World Animal Protection and
Collective Fashion Justice are calling on all brands,
retailers and fashion week events to adopt clear, time-bound
policies to phase out ostrich feathers – and all wild animal
materials – for
good.
