Animal Welfare

Due to its luxurious appearance and high durability, leather is used in many HUGO BOSS products – for example, in jackets, shoes, bags, and accessories. In 2024, leather comprised 4% of all our materials used.

HUGO BOSS uses only selected leather types. We are committed to using only skins and fur from sheep, goats, cattle and buffalo, which are by-products of the food industry. The use of leather also has environmental aspects, such as in the tanning process – read more about this under materials.

In late 2016, HUGO BOSS stopped using farmed furs and exotic leather types. Instead, we exclusively use cattle, goat, sheep and buffalo leather, which is a by-product of the food industry. We also use vegan imitations in selected styles.

HUGO BOSS uses high-quality types of wool, such as Merino and cashmere, for its knitwear, suits, slacks, and more. This natural material has many positive properties: it is thermo-regulating, soft to the skin, and especially durable. In 2024, wool comprised 7% of all our materials used.

Wool is one of the most important fibers obtained from animals for the textile production. The process of responsible wool sourcing includes responsible sheep farming, gentle shearing of the animals, and especially, avoidance of the painful mulesing process. At HUGO BOSS, we are continually working to increase the use of mulesing-free wool. We only use 100% verified mulesing-free wool in our purely woolen knitted products. 53% of the wool used at HUGO BOSS is currently mulesing-free. Furthermore, by 2030, we aim to use, exclusively, mulesing-free wool in our products. We have made this intention - to expand the use of mulesing-free wool - clear once again by signing the “Brand Letter of Intent” of the animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS. In addition, we use wool from regenerative agriculture, where animal welfare also plays an important role.

The HUGO BOSS Animal Welfare Policy describes all the requirements of responsible wool procurement and especially considers animal welfare aspects, as mentioned above.

The greatest challenge at the moment is the availability of responsible wool that meets the high quality standards of HUGO BOSS. Together with various initiatives such as the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), ZQ-Merino, the National Wool Declaration from AWEX as well as NATIVA and many other smaller organizations, HUGO BOSS is continuously increasing its share of responsible procurement.

In addition, we have been working with the Aid by Trade Foundation to develop "The Good Cashmere Standard". It is the first standard for the procurement of cashmere fibers that is dedicated to promoting animal welfare.

In another animal welfare measure, HUGO BOSS banned the use of angora wool completely, because its production normally involves procedures that are extremely painful to the animals.

This special kind of feather is popular due to its thermo-regulating properties. As such, it is used primarily for outerwear products at HUGO BOSS. In 2024, down comprised less than 0,1% of all our materials used.

Here, as well, animal welfare is crucial. Forced feeding and live plucking pose special problems.

Starting with our fall/winter collection 2016, HUGO BOSS exclusively uses down that is produced without live plucking or forced feeding and has documented origins. 100% of the down used is certified according to DOWNPASS or is recycled.

When using alpaca fibers, we make sure both the welfare of the alpacas and appropriate management of land are prioritized. Therefore, only fiber certified according to the Responsible Alpaca Standard is used in our more sustainable styles.

HUGO BOSS helped to develop the Good Cashmere Standard® from Aid by Trade Foundation. It is the world’s first standard for sourcing responsibly produced cashmere fibers. In products with more than 60% cashmere content, we aim to only use certified cashmere as a standard. For 2024, this was already the case for 78% of these products.

In 2024, mohair comprised less than 0,1 % of all our materials used. At HUGO BOSS, we only use mohair that comes from Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS) certified sources. The RMS stands for species-appropriate goat husbandry in mohair production. In addition to animal welfare aspects, it also addresses a more sustainable approach to the environment.

We are aware that silk production is critical in terms of animal welfare. Its use at HUGO BOSS is extremely low: just 0.1% of all materials used. Where possible, we work with alternative, plant-based textiles that are comparable to conventional silk. These include, for example, modal or tencel, both of which are derived from wood fibers.