Mary Portas built her career on flogging fashion – and shot to fame on TV show Mary Queen of Shops. She said she wants to people to stop shopping for new clothes to help save the planet

Retail guru Mary Portas has done a massive U-turn and is urging people to stop shopping for new clothes to help save the planet.

The woman who built her career on flogging fashion – and shot to fame on TV show Mary Queen of Shops – has even called on designer fan Kim Kardashian to back buying secondhand.

Mary, 61, says she has been inspired by a young generation passionate about saving the world’s resources.

She said: “How can we harness that? One of the great things would be if the Kim Kardashians of the world stood up and said, Don’t buy new’. That would really bloody help.”

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Mary saw the light during lockdown, when she turned 60 and went through a divorce from wife Melanie Rickey.

She now helps to create companies where women can enjoy success and a family life.

The mum of three loves it when colleagues say they are leaving to pick up their kids as it’s so dfferent from her past career.

She told the Dirty Mother Pukka podcast: “I remember being in a board meeting where they were boring the t*ts off me – all men, going on for hours – and having to pretend to run to the loo so I could call the nanny.”