Giving old clothes a new life

Changing attitudes: Logistics manager Osamu Ubakai posing with bundles of second-hand clothes at a warehouse in Inashiki city. In Japan, the world’s third-biggest clothes market, growing awareness of the sector’s huge environmental impact hasn’t sparked much interest in second-hand so far. But resistance to used clothing is changing among young people. — AFP

A second-hand pop-up store in Tokyo by casual clothing giant Uniqlo was a first for the Japanese firm, but also a sign that a local aversion to used garments may finally be fading.

Uniqlo is a major player in an industry blamed for immense carbon emissions and other pollutants like microplastics.