Burberry to stop destroying unsold products

Today, Burberry have announced they will no longer destroy products that are unsalable in a bid to become more sustainable.

Last year, it was reported that the company destroyed over £28.6 million worth of unsold products to protect its brand. This followed a massive backlash from environmentalists prompting Burberry to respond.

Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer at Burberry, said: “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.”

The sustainability of the textile industry has been long debated, and the idea of renting clothing has been introduced to reduce the large amount of waste produced.

Burberry said: “We already re-use, repair, donate or recycle unsaleable products and we will continue to expand these efforts.”

The brand has teamed with sustainable luxury company Elvis & Kresse which means that over the next five years 120 tonnes of leather off-cuts will be transformed into new products.

The high-end fashion company have also committed to stop using real fur. There will be no real fur in Riccardo Tisci’s debut collection for Burberry next month, and they will begin to phase out real fur products.

Fur in the fashion industry is beginning to diminish after continuous campaigns from animal-rights activists. Burberry join other global designers such as Gucci and Giorgio Armani who have also gone fur-free.

Burberry have set three targets to become sustainable by 2022; become carbon neutral and revalue waste, drive positive change through 100 percent of Burberry’s products and positively impact one million people.