The actor helps launch Oxfam’s annual secondhand trend marketing campaign as new analysis finds 57% of UK adults intentionally tried to purchase fewer garments up to now yr
Richard E Grant has revealed that one of the crucial consequential items of secondhand clothes he ever purchased was a Burberry trench coat from Oxfam – as a result of it helped him land the position that made his title.
“My life-changing profession break occurred as a result of I used to be carrying a second hand coat I purchased in an Oxfam store,” he says. “It was 1986 and I arrived for my ‘Withnail & I’ audition soaking moist and in a second hand Burberry trench coat. Turned out I’d nailed the search for the half with out even making an attempt – So, no Oxfam, no Withnail!”
Forty years later, Grant is fronting Oxfam’s Second Hand September marketing campaign, which inspires individuals to purchase pre-loved garments, donate these they now not put on, and maintain their current wardrobes in circulation for longer.
The marketing campaign launch comes backed up with proof that many individuals are already questioning how a lot clothes they want. Oxfam’s new State of Fashion report discovered that 57% of UK adults intentionally tried to purchase fewer garments in the course of the previous yr.
Its findings are primarily based on polling of three,037 UK adults carried out in July of this yr. The charity plans to repeat its research yearly to trace whether or not Britain’s relationship with clothes is turning into extra sustainable.
Nonetheless, there’s nonetheless quite a lot of clothes sitting round unused. The analysis discovered that nearly a 3rd of the items in a median UK wardrobe had not been worn within the earlier yr, whereas 4 in 10 individuals stated that they had worn an merchandise of clothes simply as soon as.
Richard E. Grant shot by Sane Seven for Oxfam’s Second Hand September 2026 Marketing campaign
One in 5 individuals surveyed admitted to nonetheless throwing undesirable garments away, moderately than donating, repairing or reselling them.
The environmental value goes nicely past the garments themselves. Oxfam estimates that the water used to supply clothes at the moment sitting unworn in Britain’s wardrobes could be sufficient to offer a million individuals with consuming water for a lifetime.
Second Hand September was launched in 2019, however secondhand trend has since develop into more and more mainstream, helped by the expansion of resale platforms alongside charity retailers and classic retailers. Oxfam has greater than 500 retailers across the UK in addition to its on-line retailer.
It was 1986 and I arrived for my ‘Withnail & I’ audition soaking moist and in a second hand Burberry trench coat
The marketing campaign can also be tapping into an thought that purchasing much less doesn’t should imply taking much less pleasure in garments. Grant says he has all the time beloved garments “which have lived a life earlier than you”; he nonetheless wears items he has owned for many years, alongside garments that belonged to individuals he loves and issues he has picked up through the years.
“Authentic model isn’t about shopping for extra. It’s about discovering items with a narrative, preserving them for so long as you possibly can, and passing them on for another person to find. We’ve already acquired an excessive amount of of every part. Reusing and upcycling clothes – second-hand, classic, name it what you want – simply makes excellent sense.”
Pictures: Sane Seven for Oxfam’s Second Hand September 2026 Marketing campaign
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