Luxury fashion brands had thousands of exotic leather goods seized by U.S. law enforcement
A report finds that companies including Chanel, Gucci, and Coach had thousands of imported exotic leather goods seized by U.S. law enforcement from 2003 through 2013.
Famous luxury fashion brands—Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Michael Kors, and dozens of others—had more than 5,600 items made from illegal wildlife products seized by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at U.S. ports of entry from 2003 through 2013, National Geographic has learned from researchers who recently published their work in the journal EcoHealth.
The analysis doesn’t implicate luxury fashion companies in intentionally smuggling illegal goods, nor does it say which companies may be linked to more recent illegal imports; since 2013 the U.S. government no longer discloses to the public the names of businesses importing wildlife products, a move that's been challenged in court.
But lead researcher Monique Sosnowski, a doctoral student in criminal justice at the City University of
