Burberry to stop burning clothes to prevent 'wrong people' wearing them
Luxury fashion Burberry burned millions of unwanted products last year, sparking a debate over the wastage by luxury brands.
British luxury fashion brand Burberry said it will stop destroying products that it cannot sell.
The company also said there will be no real fur in its London Fashion Week catwalk show later this month. It will also phase out existing real fur products.
The fashion house, which produces clothing, leather goods and beauty products, also said it will no longer dispose of unwanted and unsold stock by destroying it after the practice was criticized by environmental activists this summer.
The company said in an earlier report that it destroyed more than £28 million ($36 million) worth of luxury goods including beauty products in the last year to protect the brand's image and keep its goods from being sold cheaply.
Designer brands often destroy unwanted stock to stop it from being sold at discounted prices and maintain the exclusivity of their products so they are not sold to the "wrong people," The Times reported in July.
Burberry said Thursday it plans to expand efforts to "re-use, repair, donate or recycle unsaleable products."
"Our responsibility goals cover the entire footprint of our operations and extend to the communities around us," said chief executive Marco Gobbetti. "Modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible."
Burberry's Sept. 17 runway show will mark the debut collection for new creative chief Riccardo Tisci, who replaced Christopher Bailey at the helm.
The Burberry show is typically one of the highlights of London Fashion Week, which begins Sept. 14. The company will share the spotlight with Victoria Beckham, Roland Mouret and others.
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