Designer fashion label Burberry burned more than $36.5 million worth of clothes in 2017, it has been reported.
The upmarket clothing line, famous for its checked design, has destroyed $65 million of products in the past five years, The Times reports.
The news comes as insiders claim luxury brands destroy unsold products to prevent them from being sold at discount prices on the gray market to the “wrong people,” the paper reported.
On Thursday, Burberry said it strove to act in a “responsible” manner when disposing of stock, saying there were “careful processes” in place to minimize the amount of waste.
It comes as The Times claimed shareholders were unhappy with the amount of clothes destroyed, with one asking why the unsold products were not offered to the company’s private investors at a meeting last week.
Burberry, which is valued at $9.6 billion by Forbes, said it took the issue of waste “extremely seriously” and that it uses special incinerators to harness the energy.
The company, which has featured famous models including Cara Delevingne, Sienna Miller, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Romeo Beckham in its ad campaigns, said the practice of destroying excess stock was common across the retail industry.
According to the report into excess waste, the value of products destroyed increased by half in the last two years.
To put the burning into context, you could buy 20,000 of Burberry’s notoriously expensive trench coats with the $36.5 million value of the destroyed items.
The Times also contacted a number of brands, including Vivienne Westwood and Victoria Beckham, to find out how their waste was handled.
Only Temperley replied, saying its unsold clothes were either donated to charity or sold at a discount outlet.
It has previously emerged that Richemont, the owner of Cartier and Montblanc, destroyed more than $500 million worth of watches in two years.
And more than 16.5 tons of H&M stock was burned last year, helping to power a small Swedish city, Vasteras, instead of using coal.
Louis Vuitton has also been named as a brand that burns its unsold bags.
Burberry has been embraced by famous faces around the world, and Kylie Jenner is no exception.
The new mom shared a snap of herself cradling her baby daughter, Stormi, with the 5-month-old dressed in the designer threads.
In the photo, Stormi is wearing a Burberry dress made from the fashion house’s iconic checked print and Kylie is shielding her face from the lens.
Burberry’s lines are traditionally mega expensive, with its cheapest rucksack retailing for $1,200 in Asia.
The brand’s iconic Chelsea Heritage Trench Coat costs $1,800, while shirts can cost up to $1,000.
Bosses have recently vowed to slash prices by 4 percent in Chinese markets to help sales.
A Burberry spokesperson said: “Burberry has careful processes in place to minimize the amount of excess stock we produce.
“On the occasions when disposal of products is necessary, we do so in a responsible manner and we continue to seek ways to reduce and revalue our waste.
“This is a core part of our Responsibility strategy to 2022 and we have forged partnerships and committed support to innovative organizations to help reach this goal.
“One example is our partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular Initiative, where we join other leading organizations to work towards a circular fashion economy.”
Old shit house them that’s why me say cheap n clean
Cheap and clean do worst damage to society that people know. The fashion industry is the second largest polluters in the world. The fact that them burn and contain it is actually a good thing.
Imagine tho… These top designers prefer to burn there unsold items instead of giving it to charity or selling it at a lower cost mean while some of us are out here acting a fool just to be seen in their latest. We might be out here palaving in burnt merchandise. Haha hmm I wonder who would have the last laugh?
Wrong people? I guess that’s black people or nah? But dem naa get my money still so mi naav a thing fi seh. Left dem to God
But cheap and clean burned to did you read the article ?
Before them give it to some less fortunate them burn it how much people need a coat !
But what i know the rich will be rich and still buy and the people will still cuss people with fake clothes but worship real while burning them smh !!
All material clot and boot me nah stop say it ! The mental slavery and brain wash
In reality dem burn $300,000 worth of goods base on the fact that the material dem really cost 15€ a yard and labor at $4-$8 a week with the rest going into storage shippment and high-end rent.
I love quality, but me NOT supporting the slavery that these fashion houses are apart of.
Thank god im not a label whore! Donate the clothes
Hahaha.. The ways of people in this world.. I’m not going to say anything bcuz i don’t want unno straighten mi out like how unno du mi fi defend popcaan..
Dem straighten u out :ngakak :ngakak :ngakak mek mi go look
Nobody nuh care, every long time blogger get dem dose already, even me. If Met fi tell you how dem used to do har, all when she did ova big yawd. You haffi hab thick skin fi dis shit. Comment your comment and keep it moving. Nuh hab no fear, you will never able to gauge reactions to your pov, so just do your thing. Rebuttals are not the worst, sometimes they allow you to see things from a different angle, so if a rebuttal useful accept it for what it is.
Them wicked eeh… why them Neva call Apple, Robbas and the rest . Oh shit my bad them only wear GUCCI!!!
:hammer
Ooooomy God u right! Dem shudda call Apple dem!
But met.. I didn’t lie those chickenheads don’t wear “ uncle Burberry “ him can bun the company down next team Apple don’t use him.
Im not looking o
Mi glad mi buck dah news item yah enuh. So wid all the poverty around, dem can’t even donate the clothing to the poor? Shit, just rip dem designer labels from the product and put couple stitching or something fi meck it look fake and give it away anonymously. I think different bout dem luxury brands now, very different.
My dear.. the fashion industry does not care about proverty or human rights. Them violate human rights pon di daily. Donating the clothes to the less fortunate going to end up in them getting rid of it at some point – it will end up in landfills anyway and landifill = pollution.
Ooooomy God u right! Dem shudda call Apple dem!
“Burberry must donate the left-overs to the poor’.
Sure, when Pigs learn to Fly and the Moon turns Blue.