- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
Going green? British fashion struggles with sustainability
In an industrial underground space in central London, models in contrasting period dresses and playful streetwear strutted down a brightly lit London Fashion Week (LFW) runway.
But unlike most other shows, all the floral dresses, trending workwear and double-denim outfits were second hand at the event by charity Oxfam and online used clothes retailer Vinted's "Style for Change".
Bay Garnett, a sustainable fashion pioneer who picked out the pieces from Oxfam's warehouses, called the runway "really exciting".
"When we first did this show eight years ago, it was really not like this," Garnett told AFP backstage, noting the stream of enthusiastic attendees.
Despite the excitement surrounding the Oxfam show alongside another "pre-loved" runway by online auction site eBay, British fashion is struggling with sustainability.
Around 44 percent of all British companies overall have put in place a structured climate action plan, according to insurance company Aviva's "Climate-Ready Index".
By contrast, the fashion world is lagging sorely behind, a situation the Collective Fashion Justice (CFJ) charity said was "an embarrassment".
A recent CFJ report found that just seven of the 206 members of the British Fashion Council (BFC), which organises London Fashion Week, had set out targets to reduce their carbon emissions.
And only five of these -- or less than 2.5 percent -- had goals aligned with the 2016 Paris Agreement to cut global warming, CFJ said.
The UK is the third largest footwear and clothing market in the world, after China and the United States, according to analysis by the Fashion United platform.
A 2018 report from sustainability consultancy Quantis said the sectors account for around eight percent of planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions.
- Go big or go green? -
Luxury fashion giant Burberry -- a LFW veteran -- is one of the handful of brands publishing scientific targets.
Known for its tartan branding, the fashion house recently raised its emission reduction goals and hopes to be carbon neutral by 2040.
But BFC chief executive Caroline Rush said: "To set carbon reduction targets, you need a team to be able to measure your targets, understand how to reduce them and then report on them."
"For a small business that's quite a challenge."
To help, the BFC now has some 50 businesses that will go through its "low carbon transition" programme for designers.
Ideally, advocates say the programme should be extended to help brands monitor and report their carbon reduction plans.
Copenhagen Fashion Week has taken its own step to require all brands involved to meet a series of environmental goals.
In the United States, reform could come with a "Fashion Act" under consideration by the New York authorities, which would legally require businesses to cut emissions and take into account those of their entire supply chains.
"I think a lot of the issue is (that) the fashion industry can try to handball its problems to other industries," said CFJ director Emma Hakansson.
She explained that while there are many discussions on the climate impact of the meat industry for example, there wasn't the same pressure on producers of such materials as leather, wool and cashmere.
And yet the latter "are coming from the same supply chains", which use large quantities of water and emit methane.
- Textile waste -
There are a number of solutions to make fashion "greener", some of which will be on display at London Fashion Week.
Designer Ray Chu has created a vegan leather made using recycled tea leaves while Romanian designer ̦Ancuta Sarca uses recycled materials in her footwear collections.
But such innovations could struggle to keep up with the scale of emissions and textile waste.
Some 300 tonnes of clothes are binned every year in the UK, according to a 2020 British parliament report.
Since then, the popularity of fast fashion brands like H&M and Zara, and ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein and Temu, has only grown.
Such brands sell cheaply made, mass-manufactured clothes at breakneck speeds, only for them to fall apart or be discarded after being worn a few times.
While many brands are turning to recycled materials, or offering clothing repair or rental services, the long-term solution seems to be to "slow down our habits of consumption in general", said Hakansson.
To help with this, people could work towards "cultivating a sense of personal style", she suggested.
"If you don't know what you as an individual like, then you're much more likely to follow these micro trends that are being really pushed on us very hard," Hakansson added.
With greater awareness of the challenges posed by climate change, shopping second-hand has become more popularity, noted Garnett.
"The kids have basically got the idea that... second hand -- it's a cool way to shop. By finding your own style, a one-off piece, it (becomes) like a style choice."
V.Dantas--PC