When news breaks that fashion brands are destroying unsold merchandise, the public response is often one of outrage and confusion. Why would fashion brands destroy unused merchandise rather than donate it to those in need? It did not make sense to me. And I kind of hoped I was overacting when I felt my anger (and some amount of despair) rising after seeing the articles, news reports, and documentaries about luxury and fast fashion waste. But I’m not sure any of it hit home until we literally saw bags and bags and bags of fast fashion waste in a local alley.
Before we get into our personal story, let’s break down the global situation (because this goes beyond US companies).
Why do fashion brands destroy unused merchandise?
1. Brand Value and Perceived Exclusivity
One of the primary reasons high-end fashion brands destroy unsold inventory is to protect brand value. Luxury fashion is built on scarcity and exclusivity. When high-end goods become widely available, especially through donations or discount outlets, they risk becoming devalued in the eyes of consumers. They can’t stop you from donating your already purchased items to the local thrift store, but they can stop “new” merch from heading there, too.
2. Avoiding Discount Culture and Grey Market Resale
If unsold goods are donated or sold cheaply, they can end up in unauthorized resale markets. This includes outlets, unauthorized third-party retailers, or online platforms selling products at a fraction of their retail price.
By destroying merchandise, companies ensure these goods don’t resurface in unintended ways. Literally, they would rather burn or shred their hoodies than have more end up at thrift stores or being resold “new” on Poshmark. And you can forget about it being donated to those in need. They don’t fit the fashion brand’s image.
3. Inventory Management and Space Constraints
Fast fashion brands churn out new collections constantly; sometimes, weekly new items appear. This creates enormous pressure to:
- Clear warehouse space for new stock.
- Avoid backlog that slows down supply chains.
When merchandise doesn’t sell quickly, it becomes a liability. For many brands, destroying stock is cheaper and faster than storing or redistributing it, especially across multiple global warehouses. This certainly played a part in our personal experience. The store was closing its beach location. Apparently, it was cheaper and faster to shred otherwise perfectly nice clothing than ship it to their other stores or back to a warehouse.
4. Quality Control and Product Lifecycle
For some products, especially seasonal or trend-driven items, value deteriorates quickly. Holding onto them for another season might not be feasible, and donating items could be seen as releasing outdated or low-quality goodsunder the brand name. While I think donating would enhance a brand’s image (particularly those trying for a “sustainable” reputation), not all brands agree.
By destroying such merchandise, companies ensure that only current, high-quality, brand-approved products represent them in the public eye.
5. Consumer Psychology: Controlling the Market
In fashion, FOMO drives demand. If consumers know they can get last season’s items for free or at low prices, they might delay or avoid full-price purchases. This can erode profit margins.
Who is Doing It?
It feels like everybody, but I know that isn’t true. Some companies that take great measures to not only produce in more sustainable ways but also work with resellers (like those on Poshmark) to responsibly put unused merchandise into the market.
But there have been some pretty high-profile examples of fashion brands contributing to fast fashion waste (even if they don’t land in the Shein or Temu category of fast fashion).
- In 2018, Burberry admitted to destroying over $37 million (£28.6m) in unsold bags, clothing, and perfume to protect brand value.
- H&M (12 tons!!!), Nike, and Coach have also faced criticism for discarding or incinerating unsold merchandise, although some have since shifted toward recycling or reuse programs.
Our Experience with Fashion Brands destroying unused merchandise
If you ever pass an overflowing store dumpster filled with what looks to be soft items, you might want to take a second look. We don’t typically alley shop, but one day we noticed a seemingly constant flow of clear plastic bags filled with clothing behind a local store that was going out of business.
At first, we didn’t think much about it. Fast fashion and even luxury fashion brands fizzle out or change locations all the time in LA. But then the curiosity got to Andy. And he looked inside one of the clean bags on the ground.
The Clothing
It was filled with high-end clothing. Most of it was slashed. The labels had been removed, but we knew the store. Now, I’m not going to name and shame them because they have made genuine attempts at fixing their fashion waste problems, as well as continuing to improve their production practices (which, in fairness, they claimed to be good already). So, for the moment, I’m going to take them at their word.
It seems that the fashion brand was closing the local store and relocating the team to another location. But because we were in between seasons, they likely didn’t want to hold last season’s merchandise. I can’t imagine that shredding clothing would be better for their burgeoning “sustainable” image than donating it, but I guess it made for a faster closing.
While everything was clean, much of it was destroyed beyond wearing. Now, holes are going to happen when you are ripping out labels, but the shredding often went through the body of the garment. It was angering and sad to see that much waste.
The Outcome
The story does have a happy ending, though. Andy ended up having a conversation with someone involved with closing the store. While the labels were still removed, the shredding stopped once we promised to donate rather than resell the items.
That was easy. We knew organizations that support low-income and unhoused individuals. I can sew enough to fix some of the damage done to some of the garments we had already seen. It took nearly nine months to find organizations that could store, recycle the unrepairable, or immediately distribute the more than 16 bags we “rescued.” We had a lot to learn. And yes, it cost us some money to do it. Imagine how quickly it would have gone had the store itself partnered with an organization to donate the undamaged clothing?
We have no idea how much was discarded before we realized what was happening.
Takeaways: A Hidden Cost of Fashion
The destruction of unsold fashion merchandise is often a result of brand image strategies and profit calculations. I don’t think anyone in our situation was “evil.” They weren’t rubbing their hands together, plotting to destroy the planet like a Bond villain. They were responding to a world where there is incredible pressure for things that are new and immediately available, regardless of the real cost of producing and discarding them.
But it’s time we held fashion brands accountable for their bad business practices. They think they can’t afford to have their damaged clothing recycled responsibly? How about they face fines for every time 16 bags of clothing get dumped into a landfill?
I know nobody really wants to hear this, but the consumer also has to change. I have to change. I try to be mindful and limit my spending on items that are going to last a season (at best). Still, when I walk down some of LA’s famous shopping avenues, there is a part of me that responds with “OOOHHH!!!!” But here is the reality: if we demand less and mindlessly consume less, those profit-driven companies will produce less.
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