Outlets and off-price retailers in China are seeing business boom as luxury brands pump excess inventory into the country at bargain basement prices. But the pandemic clearance strategy is a double-edged sword.

Brands and retailers are sitting on mountains of spring and summer collections that they need to clear in what will likely be the biggest markdown season ever.

As a decade-long build-up of bargain shopping culture is exacerbated by a rise in anti-consumerism, a glut in inventory and cash-strapped consumers looking to trade down or turn to off-price channels, brands must find inventive ways to reestablish value, says The Business of Fashion and McKinsey’s Coronavirus Update to The State of Fashion 2020.

The luxury industry’s habit of destroying end-of-season leftovers is under threat, thanks to a consumer backlash and increasing government regulations. BoF uncovers the best solutions.