Environment Matters: Fashion Frontline Season 3, Episode 74

Issues of ethics and the environment loomed large in this week’s round-up of fashion and showbiz news, with topics including climate change, animal cruelty and sustainable fashion being cast into the spotlight.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s appointment as a United Nations Messenger of Peace allowed him to join the ranks of celebrities including Emma Watson, Angelina Jolie and Stevie Wonder: all given a role in the UN. Swedish clothing giant H&M’s new “Conscious Denim” line also has environmental causes at heart, aiming to make fashion more sustainable through the careful, measured utilization of resources such as energy and water.

The political and economic environments in Russia and the Middle East are just one factor which have affected the profits of Europe’s largest clothing retailer, Inditex. Fashion houses including Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry and Christian Dior have come under fire from non-profit organization Last Chance for Animals. These labels and more are fighting accusations of working with rabbit fur farms in Spain where workers were seen “callously bashing sick rabbits to death.”

In other news, fans of Matthew McConaughey will be disappointed to hear that the star will not be rejoining the Magic Mike cast in forthcoming sequel Magic Mike XXL. Fashion Frontline’s Tiffany Schulz gives the details on this, as well as on Miranda Kerr’s forthcoming appearance as cover star of Vogue Japan’s November 2014 issue. Photographed by Mario Testino and dressed in clothes inspired by Japanese culture, Kerr will feature in the magazine as it celebrates its fifteenth anniversary.