LONDON- English fashion brand Burberry has been harshly criticized by environmental and ordinary campaigners after it was revealed that they burned unsold accessories and clothes worth R450 million (£28.9 million).
Unfortuntaley this is the norm in the fashion industry, to burn or destroy unsold items to prevent them being sold cheaply or stolen.
In the past five years Burberry has destroyed £90 million worth of goods. In 2018 they destroyed clothes, accessories and perfumes but the clothing brand see’s the move was environmentally friendly, saying energy generated from the fire was captured to make it environmentally friendly.
Other high profile brands also burn their merchandise, such as Louis Vuitton is also said to burn goods in order to maintain the label’s exclusivity and avoid selling them at a lower price.
However many people have observed the practice as a way is a dirty secret within the fashion industry and an awful waste.
£28.6m worth of clothes destroyed by Burberry, including jumpers and coats.
In the year we had the coldest winter on record and an ever-growing homelessness crisis – surely giving the clothes to charities or shelter would have crossed someone's mind?
— Dominic McGregor (@DominicMcGregor) July 19, 2018
Gross. And this isn’t new, isn’t only #Burberry. Modern fashion is an enormously wasteful industry, and needs to get with the times – recycle, reuse and work sustainably and ethically. No excuses. https://t.co/zaGIJBTcxk
— Tara Moss (@Tara_Moss) July 19, 2018
Burberry: no, we won’t give our surplus stock to charity, because we don’t care about poor people, (and tarnishes our brand) but we will incinerate it in an ‘environmentally friendly way’ – you know what would’ve been the most environmentally friendly thing?! Giving it to charity
— •lina• (@agirlcalledlina) July 19, 2018
So much poverty in the world and @Burberry lights a torch to $37M worth of clothing and beauty products to "protect the brand." Makes me feel ill. https://t.co/N3ceeTVAvn
— Leilani Münter (@LeilaniMunter) July 20, 2018
Photo Credit- The Fashion Law
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