Viral Video Exposes How One Luxury Fashion Company Destroys Unwanted Merchandise The company has since announced that it's changing its goods policies.
By Chloe Arrojado Edited by Jessica Thomas
Luxury fashion company Coach has been in hot water over the past week after a TikToker exposed its practices for disposing of unwanted goods.
Under the username @thetrashwalker, TikTok user Anna Sacks says Coach has been slashing unwanted merchandise so that it can qualify for a tax loophole for being "accidentally destroyed."
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In the video, Sacks holds up various Coach bags with visible slashes through them while commenting on the luxury brand's practices.
"[Coach] is a publicly traded company, but this is not disclosed anywhere," Sacks says in the TikTok, which has since garnered 2.6 million views and more than 600,000 likes.
Sacks also points out Coach's paradoxical approach by talking about the company's repair policies. The brand offers a repair service for its bags, which the brand says is another small thing it can do to "keep bags out of landfill and reduce our impact on the planet."
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Coach has not responded to the video. However, the brand has since created a post on Instagram addressing its unwanted goods practices.
In the Instagram post, the company says that it will no longer destroy damaged or unsalable goods in order to maximize product reuse. The post also mentions that Coach donated $55 million last year to support low-income families, people in need and workforce and education programs.
"We have now ceased destroying in-store returns of damaged and unsalable goods and are dedicated to maximizing such products reuse in our Coach Re(Loved) and other circularity programs," the post announced.
However, some Instagram users were doubtful of the brand's authenticity.
"I love how they automatically mention they donate. Performative apology, not sincere," one user commented on the post.
Others expressed hope towards change.
"I know Coach is not the only brand doing this but it's still disappointing," another wrote. "I sincerely hope what you're pledging to do from now on it's true and something you'll actually do."
