LONDON – Burberry has announced it will stop the practice of destroying unsaleable products, with immediate effect. The company has also confirmed it will no longer use real fur. There will be no real fur in Riccardo Tisci’s debut collection for Burberry later this month, and the business said it will phase out existing real fur products.
On hearing Burberry’s decision to no longer incinerate stock, Fashion Revolution founder Orsola de Castro told Apparel Insider: “This is such amazing news! A breakthrough which I hope will inspire other brands to do the same and to look into their waste management systems across all supply chains for a more economically and environmentally effective way to produce.”
Explaning its decision, a note from the Burberry said: “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.
“At Burberry, we are passionate about driving positive change. Our responsibility goals cover the entire footprint of our operations and extend to the communities around us. In May 2018, we became a core partner of the Make Fashion Circular Initiative convened by the Ellen McArthur Foundation. In the past year, we have created a unique partnership with sustainable luxury company Elvis & Kresse to transform 120 tonnes of leather offcuts into new products over the next five years.
Marco Gobbetti, CEO, commented: “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.”
