Stella Tennant, Bella Freud and Yasmin Le Bon were among the models ditching haute couture for charity shop chic to raise awareness about sustainable fashion.
Kesewa Aboah, Lottie Moss, Daisy Lowe and singer Emeli Sandé also joined the stars at the Oxfam Fashion Fighting Poverty show last night. All the models wore items from the charity’s 600-plus stores across the country.
The show, watched by the likes of socialite Millie Mackintosh, was styled by fashion expert Bay Garnett to show that Londoners can look “supremely stylish” in second-hand clothing and encourage them away from always buying new garments. Designer Freud said the issue of sustainability in fashion was now “so much more than just the tribute comment”.
“I think people really care about the planet,” she said. “People care about sustainable fashion. Young people, they are really passionate. And they seem to be changing the whole direction about how people buy things.”
She also spoke of an emerging “attitude of contempt towards people who are just obsessed about their next look and don’t really give a s*** about where it goes”.
Tennant added: “[Sustainability] is extremely important, more than ever. You can save lives, save money, and save the planet. Young people, as they are the people that really instigate change, they can see the show and be inspired by what Bay has put together. Everyone looked great, and they all looked supremely stylish. You do not need to buy whole new outfits. The way fashion is at the moment, it is more vintage and thrift than ever. It shows you can be whoever you want by shopping in Oxfam.”
The show came after MPs called for a tax on throwaway clothes to help deal with the amount of garments going to landfill.
Figures suggest Britons buy around 1.1 million tons of new clothing annually — about 26.7kg per person. Garnett said of the show: “I’m styling this for a very simple reason. I love clothes, and the opportunity to work with them in a way that can actually help people is so exciting. I get a lot of pleasure from knowing that. I love second-hand clothes, and I love Oxfam’s commitment to fighting poverty. This collaboration is a no-brainer for me.”
Sales of all fashion items at Oxfam stores help fund its charitable projects around the world.
