Protestors gathered in front of the Max Mara, a luxury fashion brand, on Newbury St. to protest use of fur in their products on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 11 a.m.

One of the organizers, Gage Killion, said he was hoping that this protest would force the company to take action.

“We need to take it one step at a time, and I think a really important step in animal liberation would be to end the fur trade because it’s such an unethical practice,” Killion said, “Ending the fur trade starts with taking it company by company and making sure one company after the next commits to a fur free policy and they stop exploiting animals.”

While there were only 13 protesters in the group, they used megaphones, chalk messages and posters to send their message. For the duration of the protest, Max Mara stayed closed.

When the group left, Max Mara employees came outside to clean off the chalk that the protesters had written on the sidewalk. Their messages read “fur trade death trade” and “Max Mara animal killers.”

The protesters returned an hour later to continue their campaign and force the store to close once more. The Max Mara employees called the police, but they did not intervene.

Protester Ryan Powderly said that they’re determined to keep putting pressure on the company until they commit to a fur-free policy.

“I think protesting is an effective way to make change because you’re able to use your voice like we saw today. They closed, so they’re losing business because of this and they have to listen to what we have to say,” Powderly said, “We’ll keep coming back and they’ll keep losing business and the only way we’ll go away is when they announce a free fur policy.”

The group used chants such as “Max Mara has blood on its hands” and “40 dead animals, one fur coat” to attract the attention of Max Mara employees, potential customers and others passing by.

Sophomore Hanna Szelenyi was also in attendance. She said that she could see that the protest was having an effect.

“[The protest] caused the store to close. It’s public so a lot of people who are passing by know what’s going on. We saw a lot of people nodding their heads or agreeing with what we’re doing. I think that’s an effective way of spreading our message,” Hanna said.

Max Mara employees declined to comment on the protests and their current fur policy.

The Sunday protest was one of three happening in Boston this week. There were protests in other major cities, which were organized by Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CALF). The two targets of the protest were Max Mara and LVMH, a luxury clothing brand that includes Louis Vuitton.

Powderly said that there’s no reason that clothing companies should still be selling fur in 2023 because it’s unethical and there are alternatives.

“It’s a status symbol for the elite and the rich. Not everybody can afford fur. If you go on these websites and see the prices, they’re thousands of dollars,” Powderly said. “It’s just so people can walk around and say they have more money than you.”

Organizers said the protesters will return on Feb. 13 and that they will keep coming back until Max Mara commits to a fur free policy.