Düsseldorfer Fashion ID GmbH & Co. KG – a subsidiary of P&C Düsseldorf – has received confirmation from the Düsseldorf Regional Court that the term “vegan down” to describe clothing is not misleading. A groundbreaking judgment in favor of vegan substitute products should have been made again.
In the online shop at peek-cloppenburg.de, the company had advertised a quilted jacket whose filling material was described as “vegan down”. As a result, the German Down and Feather Industry Association tried to ban Fashion ID from using the term. The wording misleads consumers because the term “vegan” in connection with “down” is contradictory, according to the reasoning. The district court of Düsseldorf shared the opinion of Fashion ID. According to the verdict, “vegan down” is “in connection with clothing and in the statement ‘quilted jacket with vegan down’ […] undoubtedly understandable as a purely synthetic filling material of a piece of clothing”, the judges reasoned.
The association initially appealed, but withdrew it after the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court signaled little chance of success, reports the law firm Bird & Bird commissioned by Fashion ID in a press release.
Pioneering judgment and adaptation to new trends
“These decisions in favor of the retailer Fashion ID are a clear and positive signal for new trends: It is important and in the interest of consumers to be able to advertise new and alternative raw materials, including naming the materials that are to be replaced,” they describe lawyers the scope of the judgment.
For years, companies have been sued for describing and advertising vegan substitute products using terms that the product is no longer supposed to contain, such as soy milk, vegetable butter or vegan leather. Most of the time, the lawsuits are brought forward by the relevant industry associations, with the argument that a connection with the positively perceived properties of leather or milk is deliberately being made here, even though the new material has little in common with its role models. In addition, such terms obscured the actual ingredients. Especially in the food industry, the judges often agreed with the plaintiffs, also at EU level, which is why these products now have to be called soy drinks, for example.
In 2019, the Hanover Regional Court also decided that it is not misleading for the consumer if a handbag manufacturer advertises its vegan products with the terms “vegan leather” or “apple leather”. This might be a trend reversal.