The Kooples is a French fashion label acquired by Maus Frères SA in 2019. It built its reputation on edgy, rock-inspired designs and couple-focused marketing campaigns. While marketed as premium contemporary fashion, its growth has relied on the same globalised production and distribution channels as other Maus Frères brands. The Kooples’ image of exclusivity and rebellion is underpinned by the scale and supply chain practices of a multinational retail group.
Maus Frères SA is rated Medium Impact, with monitoring recommended. Public records show a Lacoste men’s underwear licensing deal with Delta Galil (2013–2018). Delta Galil and its subsidiaries operate production facilities in Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem—zones that violate international law and sustain apartheid economies. While there is no current public evidence of ongoing Maus Frères contracts with Delta, the past relationship demonstrates a willingness to embed in supply chains tied to land dispossession and military occupation.
Beyond Delta, Maus Frères’ business model reflects the systemic harms common across global fashion groups. Like its peers, it relies on outsourced production with opaque transparency, exposing its brands to risks of wage theft, gender-based violence in factories, and environmental destruction linked to textiles and leather. Marketing narratives around heritage (Lacoste, Aigle), preppy timelessness (Gant), or edgy subculture (The Kooples) obscure the same underlying fast-fashion dynamics: accelerated production cycles and dependence on low-cost labour.
Boycotting Maus Frères brands draws attention to two layers of harm: first, historic and potentially ongoing complicity in Israel’s occupation economy through ties to Delta Galil; and second, participation in the global fashion system that normalizes exploitation and ecological harm. Until updated contracts are confirmed, Maus Frères should be treated as monitor/medium impact, with priority focus on brands most directly entangled in settlement-linked supply chains.