Mary “Queen of Shops” Portas wants billionaire Kim Kardashian to back buying second-hand clothes to help save the planet.

Retail guru Mary, 61, has made a dramatic U-turn on her outlook after seeing the effects of lockdown.

She is now working with clients to create companies with a conscience and believes people should “feel slightly embarrassed” if they are not renouncing fast-fashion.

Mary said: “The young generation are saying, ‘You’ve tapped out our planet.’ We should look at what they’re doing and how we can harness it. That’s very sexy.

“It would be a great thing if the Kim Kardashians of the world said, ‘Don’t buy new.’ That would really help.”

Mary said the pandemic was “cataclysmic” for her and her consultancy business.

The mum of three turned 60 in lockdown, sold her home and went through a divorce from wife Melanie Rickey, with whom she shares youngest son Horatio, nine.

But she called the experience “a gift” that transformed her life.

Speaking on the Dirty Mother Pukka podcast, she told host Anna Whitehouse: “Can we think about what we’re making, what we do to the planet and still create successful businesses?”

She also slammed companies for paying lip service to diversity and change and forcing staff back into the office for “watercooler moments”.

Mary added: “I love swivelling the chair and getting the team’s little insights but, for me, it’s about balance.”

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