A few weeks ago Promgirl News along with many other fashion news outlets took some exception to a symbolic West Hollywood ban on fur due to its rather broad definitions and the negative repercussions it would inevitably have on the local retail operations. Now Women’s Wear Daily is reporting that the Fur Industry Council of America, which wouldn’t you know is headquartered in West Hollywood, has vowed to file suite against the West Hollywood City Council if the ban is actually signed into law.
Currently the ban is making its way through the legal obstacle course that any proposal destined to become law must navigate, and while the process is admittedly slow, with strong support from the West Hollywood City Council the measure is expected to pass. That would mean that as of sometime in September 2012 it would be illegal for any merchants operating in West Hollywood to sell “any article containing fur found on the body, which covers clothes, belts, hats, shoes, gloves and scarves” according to the language of the soon-to-be-law fur used in the making of furniture or rugs would still be acceptable and there is a well known and some would argue unfair caveat that excludes leather from the ban. The actual definition of fur found in the law is another point that some take objection to, considering fur is defined as any “animal skins with hair such as mink, shearling, fox, chinchilla, rabbit, seal and bear.”
According to a study commissioned by the Fur Industry Council of America 46 percent of West Hollywood retailers offer some form of fur product that is meant to be worn and therefore in violation of the ban. While the actual legal avenue of the promised suite has not yet been discussed it is safe to say that the Fur Industry council would be filing suit on behalf of these retailers whose revenue would be effected by what will most likely be argued as a local law that violates state and federal trade practices. Whatever reaction the ban and the subsequent lawsuit draw from West Hollywood residents it is obvious that this case will be closely watched by groups on both sides of the issue who are far outside the confines of this California enclave. So with both sides digging in for what looks like a long and passionate fight, its safe to say there will be plenty more news to come on this issue.
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