Luxury merchandisers are burning unsold merchandise valued over $600 million each year. Destroying clothing is a common practice amongst fashion merchandisers in order to keep the price of goods high and the availability of products low. We examine the improper disposal of deadstock when luxury and fast-fashion marketers slash and burn their unsold goods. First, we describe what fashion merchandisers are doing and why they are destroying goods. Second, we provide brief case studies of fashion firms. Third, we present a conceptualization of social irresponsibility and responsibility. Finally, we offer a set of recommendations for managers to i) better respond to stakeholder demands, ii) enhance forecasting through technology, iii) implement a circular economy model, and iv) improve reporting practices.
About Rutgers Business Review
About Us
Elizabeth Napier
PhD Scholar at Georgia State University
Elizabeth Napier is a PhD Scholar at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on the investigation of multinational firms and their interaction with local economies and environments. She studies the utilization of strategic corporate social responsibility as a...
Francesca Sanguineti
University of Pavia
Francesca Sanguineti is a third-year doctoral student from the University of Pavia, Italy. After having occupied managerial roles in the retail fashion industry, she decided to pursue a career in research and academia and began her Ph.D. studies in Applied Economics and...
Related articles
Case
Fashion
Sustainability
Walking the Talk of Sustainability Practices: The Case of Lush Retail Ltd.
by Deepanjana Varshney, Yousr Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed
The shift of the consumer focus to organic, pure and preferably sustainable-oriented beauty products has been a massive trend in recent years. Organic cosmetic...
Fashion
Strategy
New Trends: Looking at the Future of the Fashion and Luxury Industry in the Post-Pandemic World
by Neri Karra Sillaman
Pre-pandemic, the fashion and luxury industry was worth over $3 trillion. Following a significant overall contraction in 2019–21, 2022 witnessed an industry...