Have you ever wondered why fashion companies like Louis Vuitton don’t usually advertise discounts and sales? What about Burberry? This is, in the words of Huffpost, fashion’s “dirty little secret.”
Luxury fashion brands don’t put their clothes on sale at the end of a season, seeing as these brands want to keep up their reputation of exclusivity and high demand. To them, it would devalue the brand.
So what happens to the merchandise they aren’t able to sell? Well, it gets burned. Yes, that’s right: burned. Cremated.
The worst part is that this wasteful, uneconomical practice isn’t just a high-end fashion issue. It’s also exercised by common, more affordable “fast-fashion” brands such as H&M, Urban Outfitters, and Nike. These brands are deliberately choosing to destroy millions of dollars worth of clothing instead donating or reusing them.
The question is, then, why aren’t people talking about this? The answer’s simple, actually. Fashion has instilled a consumer-blaming mentality, where instead of holding corporations accountable for burning merchandise at alarming rates, people shame others for not buying sustainably produced clothing. What we seem to be forgetting is that sustainably produced clothing is, unfortunately, a privilege that few can afford.
For this reason, we need to start holding these billion-dollar corporations accountable for their wasteful practices and, as consumers, try to make the best choice within our reach; for example, we can buy second-hand clothing to reduce the environmental impact.
Written by Daniela Maatos
Artwork by Zara Masood
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