Animal welfare organisations World Animal Protection and Collective Fashion Justice have released a report documenting the painful removal of feathers from living ostriches on South African commercial farms, which supply major luxury labels including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, and YSL, as well as fast-fashion retailer Shein. Investigators found workers bagging birds' heads before cutting and pulling feathers — sometimes from still-growing, blood-filled shafts — without pain relief, a process repeated on individual birds every six months. South Africa supplies roughly 75 percent of the global ostrich market, exporting more than 150 tonnes of feathers in the 2024–25 season, and campaigners argue the findings debunk industry claims that feathers are humanely gathered during natural moulting.