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In a climate of change, luxury fashion houses are rallying for sustainability. Today, Burberry announced they’re partnering with leading global resale platform Vestiaire Collective.
Burberry is synonymous with traditional craftsmanship and manufacturing techniques that assure their garments stand the test of time. And as part and parcel of the partnership, Burberry has donated a selection of women’s Heritage Trench Coats to the platform with the sale price of these items being donated to the UK-based organisation Smart Works. The organisation’s focus is on providing high-quality interview clothes and coaching to unemployed women in need. Burberry has supported Smart Works since 2013, and this new partnership with Vestiaire sets to enrich it.
“We are very excited to team up with Vestiaire Collective to provide another way for our customers to give new life to their Burberry pieces. In building on our existing circular initiatives, including our aftercare services through our ReBurberry programme, we hope that these pieces can continue to be enjoyed for generations to come.” - Giorgio Belloli, Burberry’s Chief Digital, Customer and Innovation Officer
Through its Resale as a Service programme, Vestiaire Collective is helping luxury brands to embrace circularity. And with the industry’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and more demand from customers across luxury fashion for greener practices, this is a step in the right direction.
Burberry joins other fashion houses in the push for sustainable luxury fashion. In April 2021, French luxury group LVMH launched Nona Source. This was the first online resale platform of deadstock materials, collected from the group’s houses.
This means designers can purchase remnants from Dior, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and others at a fraction of the original cost. Econyl, derived from abandoned fishing nets, is being harnessed by Prada. With this move, they’re on course to eliminate all virgin nylon from their supply chain.
Speaking to British Vogue last year, Chloé designer Gabriela Hearst said “luxury fashion has become overly industrialised.” And, to address this she introduced the Chloé Craft initiative. This initiative debuts products handcrafted by independent artisans, such as the multicoloured sleeveless dress in recycled hand-crocheted cashmere, or the white cashmere poncho with hand-painted blue stripes.
Chloé also addressed their staples. Its signature tote bag, Nama sneakers and all of its denim, incorporated recycled and lower-impact materials.
Back to Burberry. What this new partnership means is all pre-loved Burberry pieces will be available to purchase globally, offering new and old customers around the world access to more items through Vestiaire Collective.
Great for sustainability but also etches in our minds the brand’s rich heritage of manufacturing garments for longevity. Let’s see how this impacts not only their sustainability targets but also their longer-term focus on developing Burberry into a £5 billion revenue brand.
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