)? Let’s hope so. Does this also smell suspiciously like a very green, very transparent attempt at image rehabilitation? Sadly, yes.
Lest we forget that the debt the UK has accrued because of borrowing during the pandemic currently sits at an estimated £400 billion, news which has been swept under the right-wing rug so quickly it was almost a whack-a-mole of a headline: blink and you’ll miss it.
The truth is that fashion has a plethora of problems. This week, Inditex – the parent company of Zara – announced its sales have jumped by 36% so far this year, while Chinese ultra-fast-fashion brand Shein achieved a valuation of £76.5 billion earlier this year, making it more valuable than Zara and H&M combined.
Circularity would encourage and nurture the growth of the rental industry, which is considered by many to be a viable future for fashion and has been endorsed heavily by Carrie Johnson, who wore a rented dress on her wedding day to the prime minister.In her first public speech after Johnson was elected in 2019, Carrie spoke of politicians’ “gigantic responsibility to make the right decisions” over the environmental crisis.
It’s not yet known when Johnson’s government will donate the promised £80 million to the British Fashion Council’s circularity programme, but, as Carrie said, we all share this crowded little planet and we all have a duty to care for it. That includes being honest, taking responsibility and having integrity, something Johnson still needs to be schooled in.