Must Read: Brands Need to Rethink Their Gifting Strategies, H&M's Transparency Efforts

Plus, the fur industry is promoting sustainability in an effort to fight back.

These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Wednesday. 

Why brands need to rethink their gifting strategies
Fashion editors receive tons of free stuff every day that ranges from beauty products and clothing to chocolates and floral arrangements. With those gifts come heaps of packaging that is meant to protect what lies inside, but ultimately ends up in a landfill somewhere or clogging our water systems. Fashion and beauty editors (including our own EIC Tyler McCall) have taken to social media to express their concerns through an open letter urging brands to take a more mindful approach to gifting to encourage sustainability. {Business of Fashion}

H&M's big transparency initiative
Ever wonder where your H&M garment was made? The Swedish company wants to help you find out. By clicking on the "product sustainability" tab while browsing H&M's site, consumers can learn exactly where any given product was made and in which factory. This innovation for the retailer is part of its new "consumer-facing transparency layer." {The New York Times}

The fur industry is promoting sustainability in an effort to fight back
Fur has lately fallen out of vogue in the fashion industry. As more and more luxury brands ban the material, the fur industry has begun promoting fur's sustainability in an effort to change the narrative. Though fur hasn't completely fallen out of style from an aesthetic perspective with faux alternatives on the rise, sales of real fur have been declining. Industry professionals are attributing fur's sustainability to its long lifecycle, biodegradability and absence of harsh chemicals, unless dyed. {Vogue Business}

How regular people make money through Amazon
Peruse The Amazon Moms Facebook group and you'll find a link to an Amazon product posted by one of the 2,500 members of the private group. The group is one of hundreds where the sole focus is to shop on the site. As the largest retailer in the world, Amazon uses affiliate advertising to promote product while promoters and influencers earn commission. {Vox}

Post-holiday returns predicted to be around $100 billion
Have you ever stopped to think where your returns go? This year, it's predicted that post-holiday returns will reach $100 billion, a $6 billion increase from last year. Returns are gold for resale marketplaces like Poshmark, eBay and The RealReal but some returns, 5 billion pounds specifically, end up as landfill waste each year. So next time you're buying someone a gift or receiving one, think of the environmental impact of your return. {WWD}

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