Buyers and owners of shahtoosh shawls are being targeted in a publicity blitz to save the endangered Tibetan antelope, whose fur is used to make the expensive wraps.
The move by the World Wide Fund for Nature to enlist celebrity support to speak out against the trade comes as United States authorities investigate a Hong Kong firm which allegedly sold illegal shahtoosh shawls to 100 women.
Cocoon, run by Linda Ho McAfee, is currently under investigation by the US Fish and Wildlife Office. Officers allegedly found in her US offices a list of shawl buyers which includes several New York socialites and former model Christie Brinkley.
In 1995 Mrs McAfee had 110 shawls seized by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department.
However, after an 11-month probe, they were returned and the case dropped because the fur could not be conclusively identified as chirac, or Tibetan antelope.
The shawls are prized because of their fine texture and natural warmth.