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Athlete Tim Shieff has been dropped by vegan clothing company ETHCS as a result of him returning to eating animal products.
The brand, which created the popular ‘NAGEV’ and ‘VGANG’ designs was founded by Shieff, who worked alongside a team – Benj, Ellis, and Bob. The remaining company members have posted on Instagram to confirm the brand is still vegan following numerous queries across social media.
Meanwhile, Shieff today released a video on his YouTube channel explaining that he is no longer vegan.
Ex-vegan
“When Tim told us of his intention to return to eating animal products, we were obviously very shocked and upset,” ETHCS told Plant Based News.
“For a long time Tim had been an inspirational example for veganism, as well as a good friend who has inspired us all, but this lifestyle change was something none of us could get on board with.
“We have all been proud vegans for many years, and promoting the vegan message and ethical lifestyle choices was very important to us all. Considering ETHCS was founded on these same principles, we all agreed it would be best if Tim stepped away from the company. And in time Tim agreed too.”
‘More important than an individual’
Benj, Ellis, and Bob confirmed they have all enjoyed a good working and personal friendship with Tim, but felt that what the company stood for was more important than any individual.
“Our message has always been that ETHCS stands for living consciously, ensuring your actions and choices are not to benefit yourself at the expense of others i.e. ‘there is no ‘i’ in ethics’,” they said.
“We did not feel that the company could continue with Tim living in a way that we perceived unethical. We owed that to the company, everyone that supports us, and to veganism as a whole.”