Scoop: Claire’s discontinues feather accessories

Hoffman Estates-based Claire's says it will no longer sell accessories that use real bird feathers, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The jewelry, hair and beauty brand has become the first major retailer to discontinue the sale of real feathers, according to animal rights organization PETA, which calls feathers "the new fur."

Catch up quick: A 2015 PETA investigation of South African ostrich factories charged the industry with treating the animals inhumanely. Warning: The linked video features graphic images.

• Factories harvest the birds' skins for luxury leather handbags, wallets and boots, and they source feathers through a painful process of stripping them from live ostriches, the investigation alleged.

Zoom out: Major designers like Stella McCartney and international fashion shows have also pledged to stop using real feathers.

• PETA's Sara Britt tells Axios that feathers can come from chickens, turkey and ducks, in addition to ostriches.

Zoom in: PETA reached out to major retailers to ask that they stop selling items like earrings and hair clips with feathers.

• In an email shared with Axios Chicago, Claire's told PETA that it had decided to stop stocking accessories that include real feathers.
• The company says it still has some feather products on the shelves that it will sell but that it's not planning on restocking them.

What they're saying: "The price point [at Claire's] is for these younger generations of these kids who really care about animal rights; they identify as animal rights activists. They really care about the environment," Britt said.

For more: PETA has a database for consumers who are looking to shop cruelty free.