Neiman Marcus Group (Dallas) has settled a federal claim that merchandise it was calling faux fur was in fact the real thing.
Two other retailers – DrJays.com and Eminent Inc. (Cerritos, Calif.), dba Revolve Clothing – were also involved in the action, brought by the Federal Trade Commission.
The F.T.C. investigation was prompted by a petition filed last fall by the Humane Society of the United States. The charge was marketing clothing with synthetic fur trim, lining, pom poms, etc., that was actually rabbit, raccoon and, allegedly, dyed mink.
It’s not the first time Neiman Marcus has been targeted. In 2007, a Human Society test found a children’s “100 percent polyester” Andrew Marc jacket was actually made with fur from a “raccoon dog,” a member of the same family as dogs, wolves, foxes and coyotes.
Again in 2008, the Humane Society discovered raccoon dog fur misidentified as fake fur on several coats sold at Neiman Marcus and other national retailers. This time, Neiman Marcus paid a $25,000 judgment after a District of Columbia court found that the retailer had violated consumer protection laws.
That same year, a $1895 St. John coat that was advertised as raccoon fur on the Neiman Marcus Web site tested as being raccoon dog.
In an e-mailed statement, a spokeswoman for Neiman Marcus said the company maintained a robust program to comply with all laws and regulations. And under the F.T.C. agreement, Neiman Marcus “has committed to identify correctly and promote accurately the fur and faux fur products offered in our catalogs and on our Web sites,” the statement said.
DrJays.com sells branded apparel on the Internet and also operates several stores in the New York-New Jersey area. Founder and ceo Hymie Betesh said says his company sells about 50,000 styles of products each year on its web site. “There were a handful of instances where a word may have been omitted in our product descriptions, and others where the word ‘fur’ was used to describe the style of a product, not intending to describe fabric content,” he said.