Dodgeville, Wis. — When will Lands’ End ban wool? That’s what PETA will aim to find out at the company’s annual shareholder meeting tomorrow, when a PETA representative will ask company leadership to show compassion to sheep and replace its wool products with innovative, animal-friendly materials—including the cotton blends and TENCEL that Lands’ End already uses. The action follows a recent PETA Asia exposé of the merino wool industry in New Zealand—where most merino wool comes from—which revealed petrified sheep being routinely beaten, kicked, thrown down chutes, and slammed to the ground by workers. PETA notes that Lands’ End previously banned fur, angora, mohair, and alpaca—so eliminating wool, including its merino wool products, is an important next step for the company.
An image from PETA Asia’s investigation into a wool farm showing a sheep being punched in the face by a worker. Credit: PETA Asia-Pacific
“Every wool suit and sweater sold at Lands’ End represents the tremendous suffering of a terrified sheep who was pinned down and cut to ribbons,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on the company to remove wool from its products and use only vegan materials that leave sheep in peace.”
Sheep can recognise the faces of at least 50 other sheep and will wag their tails when they’re happy. In the wool industry, farmers commonly sever lambs’ tails and castrate the males without pain relief. Because shearers are usually paid by volume, not by the hour, they’re incentivised to work quickly and often leave sheep with gaping, open wounds that are crudely sewn shut with no pain relief.
Wool production is also extremely damaging to the environment. Sheep are second only to cows in the global production of methane, which is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the Earth. The wool industry also produces massive amounts of fecal waste and contributes to soil erosion and the desertification of ecosystems.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
The full text of PETA’s shareholder question follows.
2025 Lands’ End Shareholder Question
I’m speaking on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and our countless members, many of whom overlap with our company’s target market.
Mr. McLean, we appreciate all that Lands’ End has done for animals over the years, which includes banning fur, angora, mohair, and alpaca as a result of undercover investigations that have exposed horrific abuse. In light of that, we hope you will extend your compassion to sheep used for wool.
PETA recently released our 15th exposé of the wool industry, our first in New Zealand, which revealed that no matter where you source wool, or what standards or certifications you use, it’s all cruel. During shearing, workers kick, beat, whip, tackle, and stomp on sheep. Fast and reckless shearing leaves sheep with bloody wounds that are crudely stitched up, without painkillers.
When sheep stop producing quality wool, they are slaughtered. Workers plunge knives through their throats and saw through their flesh.
Lands’ End’s 2025 Investor Presentation highlights a long-term goal: “Be the Innovative, Solutions Brand for Life’s Every Journey.”
Our question is this: Will Lands’ End embrace this vision and be the innovative solutions brand for cruelty by replacing wool with animal-free materials like the cotton blends and TENCEL you already use?
