Luxury brand Burberry is known for its trench coats and checked design, not only designing the things which make it popular is the price for which Burberry sells products.
You will be surprised to know that destroyed more than Rs 256 crore in unwanted products in the space of a year. This was done to stop counterfeiters selling their goods to the ‘wrong people’ on the ‘grey market’. Burberry has seen the rise of its waste by 50 percent in last 2 years as sales continue to decrease.
Luxury brands destroy unwanted products to protect their intellectual property and brand values. Louis Vuitton also follows such practices to avoid selling their products to wrong people.
Also Read: The Reason Why Louis Vuitton Burns All Its Unsold Bags Will Surely Amaze You
Discount rates cause a bad impact on the buyers which ruins the image these brands have in the market. Previously, retail giant H&M admitted burning unwanted stock to help power Vastera, a small Swedish city. Luxury jewellery brand Cartier is believed to have destroyed over $512 million worth of stock in two years, after buying unsold items back from jewellers.
When investors raised questions on this, Burberry defended by claiming it is an industry-wide practice and said they have been donating leftover leather to Elvis & Kresse, a fashion company that recycles unused items, since 2017.
Burberry was formed in Basingstoke, Hants, by Thomas Burberry in 1856. Hants found the benefit in making famous faces wear his range, and arranged for Lords Kitchener and Baden-Powell to own his weather-proof coats.
The strategy has continued with the likes of Romeo Beckham, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Cara Delevingne all fronting campaigns for Burberry.
The company is looking to reduce and revalue the waste. by 2022. For this, it is associating with innovative programmes like Make Fashion Circular Initiative to work towards a circular fashion economy.
