In July, British heritage brand Burberry made headlines when news broke that the company had burned a whopping £28 million (approx. $37 million) worth of clothing and beauty items in an effort to get rid of excess stock. What followed was a wave of criticism against Burberry’s practices which were deemed as wasteful and detrimental to the environment. Now the brand has turned over a new leaf and promised to “reuse, repair, donate or recycle” products that they call unsaleable.
“Burberry announces it will stop the practice of destroying unsaleable products, with immediate effect. This commitment builds on the goals that we set last year as part of our five-year responsibility agenda and is supported by our new strategy, which is helping tackle the causes of waste. We already reuse, repair, donate or recycle unsaleable products and we will continue to expand these efforts,” said a press release from the company.
They also took the opportunity to announce that they would be going fur-free. “There will be no real fur in Riccardo Tisci’s debut collection for Burberry later this month, and we will phase out existing real fur products,” said the statement.
Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer, is quoted as saying, “Modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible. This belief is core to us at Burberry and key to our long-term success. We are committed to applying the same creativity to all parts of Burberry as we do to our products.”
