When I worked at CompUSA back in high school I was exposed to the credit & destroy system for returns & unsold merchandise, and just floored by it. It would be cool if some of that could be donated, but it would be tricky. Look at it from the manufacturer's point of view: 1. You don't want to dilute your product's market with free stuff in another channel. 2. You don't want to encourage corruption by retail employees. 3. While it's mean (and there might be a solution for it), a fashion company isn't going to want their stuff being worn by the wrong people (homeless, low-income, etc.) because its the wrong image.
