Luxury brands handle unsold clothes by prioritizing brand exclusivity, often using private sales for staff, transferring goods to exclusive outlet stores, or recycling materials. While historically some brands incinerated stock to prevent devaluation, mounting pressure and new EU regulations are shifting, forcing a move toward, repurposing, or, in limited cases, destroying items to stop counterfeiting.
Instead of destroying their stock, luxury brands are thinking of a number of things they could do with it: Recycling and Upcycling: Reworking unsold products to create new designs or use the material to make something new.
It did it because luxury economics work differently. At one point, Gucci reportedly chose to destroy around $10 million worth of unsold products rather than sell them at a discount. To most businesses, this sounds irrational.
The "333 rule" in clothing refers to two popular minimalist fashion concepts: the viral TikTok trend of using 3 tops, 3 bottoms, and 3 shoes to create numerous outfits (9 items total) for styling practice, and the more extensive Project 333, where you select 33 items (including clothes, shoes, and accessories) to wear for three months, excluding essentials like underwear, workout gear, and sleepwear, to simplify your wardrobe and reduce decision fatigue. Both methods focus on versatility, quality over quantity, and creating a functional capsule wardrobe.
The 70/30 rule in fashion is a wardrobe strategy suggesting 70% of your closet consists of timeless, versatile basics (jeans, neutral tops, blazers) and 30% is for trendy or statement pieces (bold colors, unique patterns, statement accessories) to add personality and keep looks fresh without chasing every trend. It balances longevity with current style, ensuring most of your wardrobe remains relevant while still allowing for fun, expressive items that elevate your everyday staples.
Nevold isn't a private initiative, either; the circular platform will partner with other brands and companies in the wider fashion industry—beyond the luxury sector—to collect end-of-life materials, unsold merchandise and material offcuts that can be used to develop recycled materials.
Where we do have leftover stock, we partner with trusted charities to ensure any unsold stock is donated, resold or recycled if it can no longer be worn.
While you cherish these as prized possessions, would you be surprised to know that this British luxury brand burns its products each year, without a second thought? No, this isn't a scene from a fictional movie, but reality. In the past years, luxe brand Burberry faced strong backlash, after it burned unsold products.
Instead, they'll burn or shred unsold bags just to make sure they stay rare. This creates scarcity, it makes the bags more desirable and it keeps the prices climbing year after year.
But here's a surprising twist: at the end of each year, Louis Vuitton reportedly destroys its unsold stock. Yes, you read that right - rather than discounting or donating unsold bags, the company burns them.
Did you know that in the UK, around 49% of all unwanted textiles gets thrown in the rubbish bin each year? That's around 35 items, per person, per year. The good news is that there are lots of simple ways to keep clothing and textiles in use, and out of the bin.
Chanel has announced the creation of a new standalone entity dedicated to developing recycled materials at scale — a strategic response to the growing scarcity of high-quality, traceable raw fibres. Nevold — short for “never old” — is not a marketing campaign nor a sustainability report.
The "30 wears rule" is a sustainable fashion guideline where you ask yourself, "Will I wear this item at least 30 times?" before buying it, promoting conscious consumption by prioritizing quality, timeless pieces over disposable fast fashion to reduce textile waste and environmental impact. Popularized by Livia Firth, it encourages viewing clothes as investments, reducing impulse buys, and shifting towards a slower, more intentional wardrobe by focusing on longevity and cost-per-wear.
Yes, you can put clean, wearable underwear in many clothes banks for recycling or reuse, but it depends on the specific charity or textile recycling program, as some only accept new items or exclude undergarments entirely. Always check the guidelines for your local bank; generally, they take all clean, dry textiles for recycling into fiber, while some specialized charities accept new or gently used underwear for people in need, notes Recycle Now and Zero Waste Scotland.
The "333 rule" in clothing refers to two popular minimalist fashion concepts: the viral TikTok trend of using 3 tops, 3 bottoms, and 3 shoes to create numerous outfits (9 items total) for styling practice, and the more extensive Project 333, where you select 33 items (including clothes, shoes, and accessories) to wear for three months, excluding essentials like underwear, workout gear, and sleepwear, to simplify your wardrobe and reduce decision fatigue. Both methods focus on versatility, quality over quantity, and creating a functional capsule wardrobe.
While Prada has wind at its back – its value up from $7.3 billion to $9 billion over the last two years– Gucci was in free fall, dropping from a brand value of $19.8 billion in 2023 to $11.6 billion this year.
What does Louis Vuitton do with bags that don't sell?
The rumor that Louis Vuitton destroys unsold bags is fueled by the brand's need to maintain its exclusivity. The theory suggests that by disposing of unsold items, Louis Vuitton prevents them from being sold at discounted prices, thus upholding their high value and discouraging counterfeiters.
Called the Big Four, the most prominent fashion capitals of the world—in chronological order of their eponymous fashion weeks, are New York City, London, Milan, and Paris, which receive most media coverage.
