The Leather Jacket that Isn’t

Sometime in the last 24 hours of this writing, stagestores.com cleaned up its advertising. It wasn’t a major overhaul; in fact, all it took was a word.

Here’s how the online store listed a Tommy Hilfiger leather jacket just yesterday, Dec. 10:

The fact that the leather jacket is made of faux leather is disclosed in the smaller font of the details but not in the actual name of the product. At least that was the case yesterday.

Here’s how the item appears now, on Dec. 11:

Maybe it was the consumer who contacted TINA.org that sparked the edit to the name. Or maybe someone at stagestores.com was handed a copy of the federal guidelines on the advertising of imitation leather, which state in part:

(a) Imitation or simulated leather. If all or part of an industry product is made of non-leather material that appears to be leather, the fact that the material is not leather, or the general nature of the material as something other than leather, should be disclosed.

When shopping this holiday season for that Top Gun fan on your list, be a maverick and make sure you know you’re getting the real deal — if genuine leather is indeed what you want — before you buy.

For more of our coverage on leather, click here.