'Ethical down': is the lining of your winter coat nothing but fluff?

Down is wonderfully warm, but campaigners say the live-plucking of geese is cruel and prevalent. Companies have brought in new policies but doubts linger

This year's El Nino-inspired warm winter is probably a source of frustration for anyone who shelled out hundreds of dollars on a down coat last year, and was looking forward to showing it off again. Last year, Canadian jacket-maker Canada Goose became so popular that the company experienced a problem with counterfeiting, and the company says it's on course for US sales to grow 50% in 2016. You can be sure that when the temperature finally drops (and it's starting to), the ubiquitous Canada Goose logo will probably regain its place on every other sleeve in America.

Other brands, such as North Face and Patagonia, are also finding plenty of takers for their down coats, despite the often eye-watering prices confronting shoppers. But animal welfare groups warn that consumers should be careful over their purchases due to increasing awareness of the suffering that can go into the production of warm jackets with down, the soft fluffy feathers that lie next to the skin of geese and ducks.