A TikTok creator is using the platform to expose what she describes as a “bag slashing” policy from one of the world’s most well-known fashion brands.
In her video, Anna Sacks, known as @thetrashwalker, alleges that Coach requires unsold merchandise to be slashed before being thrown away, so that people can no longer use the bags.
“Welcome to my first unboxing video,” she says. “So excited to show you all the Coach purses that I bought from @dumpsterdivingmama. As you can see they’re all slashed, which is Coach’s policy. This is what they do with unwanted merchandise. They order an employee to deliberately slash it so no one can use it. And then they write it off as a tax write-off under the same tax loophole as if it were accidentally destroyed.”
Destroying unsold merchandise isn’t an uncommon practice. Other well-loved favorites such as Burberry, H&M, and Nike have also been documented destroying merchandise, according to a 2018 Vox report.
The poster said she would try to have the bags repaired through one of Coach’s own programs.
“Coach actually has a repair program for their bags.” she says. “Hopefully their shoes too. So I’m going to bring some of these in to Coach and ask them to repair it for me. Because according to their website, they really care about the circular economy, and they really care about sustainability. they’re a publicly traded company, but this is not disclosed anywhere. See, ‘don’t ditch it, repair it,’ Coach says. ‘Repair your bags.'”
Sacks, who calls herself “The Trash Walker,” looks through trash left out by businesses like pharmacies and grocery stores, and recycling left on the curb, showing her viewers how much of what some consider to be waste is still usable.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Sacks via Instagram DM as well as Coach directly.
Update 5:27 pm CT Oct. 13: Coach released a statement on its Instagram on Monday stating the fashion house would no longer destroy “in-store returns of damaged and unsalable goods.”
“We will continue to develop and implement solutions to responsibly repurpose, recycle, and reuse excess or damaged products,” the company’s Instagram post said, in part.
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