For many consumers it’s the air of exclusivity and prestige that draws them to luxury brands. The big players in the industry (i.e. Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci, Hermès, the list goes on) have worked for years to carefully curate and cultivate their brand image. Over the years many of these luxury fashion houses have adopted the practice of burning and/or destroying unsold goods as a way to maintain brand integrity. While fast-fashion and mass-market apparel brands get rid of goods that don’t sell by offering customers deep discounts, luxury brands have long since steered clear of discounting out of season products.
According to Business of Fashion in 2017, Burberry reportedly destroyed almost $37 million worth of unsold goods. The UK based brand has since pledged to ban the harmful practice, and now France has followed suit with a new initiative aimed at targeting the practice.
“Too many companies feel OK with just throwing away or destroying the shoes or the clothing that haven’t been sold”
The luxury goods industry is one of France’s most lucrative businesses, but the industry as a whole leaves behind a heavy environmental footprint. In 2019, it’s no longer possible for brands to ignore the impact its practices have on the environment, and the French government has now made a public call to action. French Deputy Ecology Minister Brune Poirson has called on brands to make a change on the industry level, though she did say that the French government would aim to create an official ban. “Too many companies feel OK with just throwing away or destroying the shoes or the clothing that haven’t been sold. You can’t do this anymore. It’s shocking,” Poirson said.
It’s unclear yet what the timeline is for an official law banning the practice to take effect, but this call to action is an industry game changer. Luxury brands are going to have to get creative with how they get rid of out of date or unsold merchandise, especially if they refuse to discount.
I am 100% for this.
Same here! this is exactly what we need right now. Maybe it can stop companies from mass producing ugly designs that don’t get sold.
I read about this a few years ago. Also, do they purposely end up with too much inventory for the sake of a tax write-off?
Attention should also be directed to companies that produce in mass quantities. Many of the clothes and other products unnecessarily end up in landfills. Cheap mass produced clothing later end up at The Goodwill or Salvation Army which sometimes they end up with too much and in turn ends up in land fills.
Do we know which brands are doing this (besides names mentioned)? Is it safe to assume brands that go on sale are not engaging in this practice? I would be willing to modify my selections based on this.
Well, there’s still leftover merchandise even after putting items on sale, so those might still be destroyed/disposed of. So we can’t really assume that just because a brand discounts off-season goods, they don’t destroy leftover product.
Yes! Finally!
Shouldn’t it be “their brand image”?
Also, Brune Poirson is a woman…
Yes to the first part and welp, should have looked that up!
Yes to the first part and welp, should have looked that up!
Very informative, thanks! I’m French and didn’t hear about that… That’s very good news- I find it quite shocking that they could get away with that practice at all… Btw, a law has been passed a few years ago to compel supermarkets to give unsold goods to charities- it was high time for that!