Burberry has come under fire after revealing it destroyed over 28. 6 million pounds (37.6 million US dollars) worth of unsold goods in the financial year 2017/2018 -- a desperate measure to avoid markdowns, which would hurt the brand’s image of luxury and exclusivity. The latest criticism has come from ThredUp, one of the world’s largest online second hand retailers. ThredUp published an open letter to the British label on its website, urging it to send its unsold goods to them, so they can resell them back into the circular economy. The second hand retailer also vowed to donate 100 percent of net proceeds to a charity of Burberry’s choice, were Burberry to accept the invitation.

“We know this is a common practice among brands: LVMH, Cartier and H&M have all been in the news for destroying their product. The thing is, the world can’t afford to waste perfectly good clothes anymore”, said the letter. Citing a report by Ellen MacArthur foundation which revealed that the fashion industry is responsible for 10 percent of all carbon emissions, the second hand retailer stressed that the world is facing an environmental crisis. “We respect the desire to protect your brand image, but discounting your product shouldn’t be scarier than setting it on fire”.

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