Burberry sets fire to £28million of its products to stop illegal counterfeiters copying its clothes

Burberry set fire to more than £28 million worth of its fashion and cosmetic products over the past year in a practice to stop illegal counterfeiters getting their hands on the brand's clothes.

The luxury British brand burnt the products, totalling £28.6 million in value, including £10.4 million of beauty items, according to detail in its annual report.

Destroying products has become common practice for the industry, with retailers describing it as a measure to protect intellectual property and prevent illegal counterfeiting by ensuring the supply chain remains intact.

Consumer sources told The Times the reason for the practice was to stop products ending up on the "grey market", where forgers could pick up discounted garments and use them to produce fakes to be sold on at a fraction of the retail price.

Burberry's clothing is priced at the high end of fashion retail, with men's polo shirts selling for as much as £250 and its famous trench coats costing around £1,500.

The group has said it takes its environmental obligations seriously, and recently joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Make Fashion Circular initiative to prevent waste in the industry.

Critics, however, have poured scorn on the luxury fashion brand, questioning why the company doesn't donate the clothes to charity. 

Burberry said it only destroyed items that carried its trademark and only worked with specialist companies who were able to harness the energy from the process.

A spokesman said: "Burberry has careful processes in place to minimise the amount of excess stock we produce.  On the occasions when disposal of products is necessary, we do so in a responsible manner and we continue to seek ways to reduce and revalue our waste.

"This is a core part of our Responsibility strategy to 2022 and we have forged partnerships and committed support to innovative organizations to help reach this goal.

"One example is our partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular Initiative, where we join other leading organisations to work towards a circular fashion economy.”

The company said the destroying of cosmetic items was a one-off related to the licence Burberry agreed with beauty company Coty last year.

The company announced last week that its sales grew by 3 per cent in the 13 weeks to June 30, up from £478 million to £479 million.

But the fashion house warned that sales in the UK and Europe had been knocked due to weaker tourist demand, but that Chinese tourists had lifted sales in Hong Kong, Korea and Japan.

Burberry is gearing up for the first collection from its new chief creative officer, former Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci.

Burberry is also collaborating with veteran British designer Vivienne Westwood, who is creating pieces for the brand that will be sold from December.