Two police officers called to the scene of Henry Nowak’s murder are under investigation for potential gross misconduct after they handcuffed him as he lay dying.

The 18-year-old told officers he could not breathe and that he had been stabbed after being attacked in Southampton on December 3 last year, but officers from Hampshire Constabulary ignored his pleas and failed to realise he was mortally injured.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it is investigating potential failures by the officers to realise that Henry needed urgent medical attention, to take action when he said he had been stabbed and could not breathe, and the decision to arrest and handcuff him instead of providing first aid.

One of the officers is also under investigation for potentially breaching conduct standards by dismissing the teenager’s claim that he had been stabbed. 

The watchdog is also looking at whether race or religion played a part in the officers’ decision making.

Sikh killer Vickrum Digwa lied to police that he had been the victim of a racist attack by Henry, when in fact he had fatally stabbed the 18-year-old.

IOPC director of engagement Derrick Campbell said: ‘We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to Henry’s family and friends.

‘Our investigators met with Henry’s family earlier this month where we were able to discuss our investigation with them in depth, now that criminal proceedings have concluded.

‘We are obliged to constantly review the evidence obtained throughout our investigations and assess any indications of potential misconduct for officers involved. As a result, two officers will now face gross misconduct investigations.

Police officers pinned fatally injured Henry to the ground as he gasped ‘I’ve been stabbed’ and ‘I can’t breath’. Gurpreet had said Henry was the aggressor

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Murderer Vickrum Digwa is seen lying to police as he tells them the teenager ripped off his turban in a racist attack. It was revealed to be a ‘wicked lie’

‘There is clear evidence that public confidence in the force may have been seriously harmed by this incident, and that is a factor we must consider when assessing the evidence.

‘The serving of gross misconduct notices does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow. At the end of our investigation, we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings.’

Bodycam released last month showed Digwa falsely accuse Henry of being racist, claiming he had called him a ‘p***’ and acted as the drunken aggressor who ‘escalated the situation’ – as he stood unhandcuffed while medics performed CPR just yards away.

An officer at the scene repeatedly called the attacker ‘mate’ and, moments after arresting him, reassured him: ‘I’m not saying you’ve done anything.’

Digwa again insisted: ‘But I’ve been racially attacked.’ The officer replied: ‘I know, mate, I know.’

The previously unseen footage also showed that, despite being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Digwa was never handcuffed.

In contrast, Mr Nowak was restrained on the ground as he bled to death, repeatedly saying: ‘I can’t breathe.’ He also told an officer he had been stabbed – only to be told: ‘Don’t think so, mate.’

Digwa told what have been confirmed to be ‘wicked lies’ about Henry, trying to portray him as the aggressor and a racist. 

He never told officers he stabbed him and claims any wounds were because he ‘fell over’.

Police have apologised to Henry’s family but said the pathologist who spoke in court was clear ‘there was nothing officers could have done that day to save Henry’ as his fatal wound had caused ‘extensive’ internal bleeding.

The teenager’s treatment sparked fresh claims of ‘two-tier policing’, with critics suggesting officers had disbelieved Henry when he said he had been stabbed, because he was white.  

Current National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) guidance highlights a need for ‘not treating everyone the same or being colour-blind’.

Sir Stephen Watson, the anti-woke Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, has called for the guidance to be ‘revisited’ to rebut accusations officers are treating people unfairly. 

He said: ‘Fairness isn’t getting involved in the language of activism and social engineering.

‘It’s that which led us into conflict with the perception of reality. I certainly understand how it came about and I’m certainly concerned that we address that.’

Digwa (pictured) was jailed for a minimum of 21 years after he stabbed Henry to death

Referring to NPCC guidelines, Sir Stephen said: ‘We have in some contexts adopted the language of activism.

‘This is something we need to revisit, refresh and make sure that whatever we produce has the effect of doubling down on our impartiality.’

Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Mr Nowak with a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, that he claimed he carried as part of his Sikh religion.

In the months before Mr Nowak was killed, tensions in the local area of Portswood were growing after a series of incidents, including the arrest of two asylum seekers for exposure and groping two women walking down a street.

Locals described a ‘climate of ongoing racial abuse’ due to the anti-migrant protests at the hotel.

In September, police had launched an arson investigation after a flare was thrown through a ground-floor window.

The following month a rally ended in violent clashes between migrants and protesters outside the hotel.

Police had made five arrests since protests began last summer and issued five dispersal orders, including one in November just days before the murder 500 metres from the hotel.

Time to dust off the gingham: Netflix is about to release a new adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved frontier stories. The series will revisit Little House on the Prairie (1935), the best-known of her books.

For nearly a century, Wilder’s fictionalised accounts of her experiences on the American frontier in the 1870s and 1880s have been a staple of American culture. Her iconic children’s books – eight volumes originally published from 1932 to 1943 – quickly found an eager global audience. Together, they’ve sold over 73 million copies and indelibly shaped a popular image of a certain place and time in American life.

American filmmaker Michael Landon’s equally beloved television adaptation of the books hasn’t left syndication since its first run from 1974 to 1983. During the pandemic, it experienced a new resurgence that has yet to abate: in 2024 alone, it racked up 13.3 billion streaming minutes.

But how will a new generation of viewers respond to the Ingalls family and their experiences of life in an America that was still taking shape?

Besides the resurgent streaming figures, there are signs that this might be a fertile moment to reimagine life on the prairie. Whether in the 1930s or the 1970s, Little House on the Prairie has always thrived in times of depression and turmoil. Indeed, with uncanny timing, Landon’s adaptation premiered in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Petrochemical trauma apparently stimulates a longing for the age of the horse.

In moments of global suffering, Wilder’s prairie seems to offer a vision of simplicity that serves as an antidote to the turbulence of modern life – it even provided some with a blueprint for COVID lockdown life. Wilder’s knack of transforming rural privation into cosy domesticity is also likely to chime with our own era’s fixation with tradwives, momfluencers, homestead cosplayers and cottage core aesthetics.

The real Little House on the Prairie

The real story of Wilder and her family as they journeyed through Minnesota, Kansas and South Dakota was not so simple or wholesome. They experienced profound hardships including poverty, sickness and periods of near starvation.

Moreover, the novels’ dehumanising representations of the Osage glossed over the violent displacement of Indigenous peoples by Wilder’s family and their fellow “pioneers”. They perpetuated the racist stereotypes through which this dispossession was justified. There was little romance, either, about the continuing hardships of Wilder’s life in Missouri – until she published Little House in the Big Woods, the first book in the series, at the age of 65.

Even then, Wilder’s success was not a spontaneous fluke. Her only child, Rose Wilder Lane, had managed to escape farm life in Missouri to become one of America’s highest paid freelance writers. She was contributing articles to the era’s leading magazines and writing controversial biographies of public figures like Herbert Hoover and Charlie Chaplin. It was Rose who encouraged her mother to shape her childhood memoirs into fiction and the two women collaborated closely on the series.

But Rose didn’t just bring her literary connections and publishing experience to the mother-daughter partnership: she also brought her politics.

Rose was a prime mover in the early Libertarian movement. Along with Ayn Rand and Isabel Patterson, William F. Buckley labelled her one of the “three furies” of Libertarianism. With Rose’s input, Laura’s childhood memories were transformed into fantasies of American resilience, resourcefulness and self-reliance that chimed with her own political viewpoints.

The result enshrined a vision of the frontier, and by extension America, as a place defined by an exceptional freedom — but only for white settlers. Indeed, anger over Wilder’s treatment of Indigenous and Black characters has only grown over time. In 2018, the backlash led the American Library Association to remove Wilder’s name from its prestigious children’s literature award.

Little House on the Prairie was therefore explicitly and implicitly political from the start. Landon’s television adaptation happily continued that tradition, though his vision of prairie life would have likely angered Rose.

Even if its nostalgic presentation of frontier life hardly troubled the Wilders’ original vision, it still took on social issues germane to the 1970s, including racism and sexual assault. These competing legacies were brought into stark relief when Netflix announced its new adaptation in January 2025.

US political commentator and media personality Megyn Kelly took to X to declare: “Netflix, if you woke-ify ‘Little House on the Prairie’ I will make it my singular mission to absolutely ruin your project.” Melissa Gilbert, the actor who played protagonist Laura in the 1970s, was quick to respond. She urged Kelly to “watch the original again. TV doesn’t get too much more ‘woke’ than we did”.

The Little House in the culture wars

Netflix’s new adaptation will have to find its own place in the contemporary culture wars.

Its multi-racial cast signals a clear attempt to address the racism found in the original books. Pre-publicity from Netflix has been at pains to highlight that the show has hired an Osage cultural consultant and engaged the Osage Nation in discussion. As a result, the series also introduces a family of Indigenous homesteaders, reflecting how the Indian Homestead Act of 1875 offered Indigenous people the chance to settle on farmland in the so-called “public domain”.

In reality, though, taking up such land came at a high cost: Indigenous people were required to give up their tribal affiliations and deeply held beliefs in communal land ownership. As a result, families like this would have been rare in the period depicted – and far more likely to have been forced off their own lands than to have claimed new ones.

At the same time, the sun-drenched, prairie-chic aesthetic of the so-called town of Independence will no doubt appeal to those looking for Insta-worthy images of the beauty and grandeur of the American landscape. The trailer lingers over endless seas of golden-green grass in which pinafored children frolic aesthetically.

If early signs are anything to go by, then, it seems it will try to appeal to both its competing constituencies. These inherent tensions mean that a new adaptation of Wilder’s stories is certainly an appropriate way to mark America’s 250th anniversary year. There are few stories that sit more squarely in the American grain. For good and ill, Little House On the Prairie is the story of America.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Brittany Clark was attacked in the Econlockhatchee River at Little Big Econ State Forest,

A young woman was savaged to death by a rampaging alligator as her terrified boyfriend tried desperately to save her during a swim in a Florida river.

Brittany Clark, 31, from Orlando, was attacked without warning in the Econlockhatchee River at Little Big Econ State Forest, about 25 miles from the city, the Mirror reports.

The couple had stopped for a dip in just 3ft of water when the beast struck. Horrifying 911 audio captures her boyfriend screaming that “both her arms are dislocated – off basically”, before crying out that one had been ripped clean off.

A medical examiner has revealed the alligator dragged them under in a brutal “death roll” as the boyfriend fought heroically to prise her from its jaws.

“While they were swimming, an alligator grabbed [Ms Clark] by her arm and began the “death roll”,” the report obtained by the Daily Mail states. “Her boyfriend Chance grabbed the alligator, trying to get it to release her when it took them both underwater.”

According to the report, Chance succeeded in liberating her arm “for a moment”, but the alligator subsequently seized her other arm. “Chance attempted to bring them both to shore when the alligator finally let go and CPR was started on shore by her boyfriend, and 911 was called,” the report states.

Chad Weber, a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), informed journalists on Monday that the pair had been hiking and had paused for a swim.

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“It doesn’t seem they were doing anything malicious. They were in approximately 3ft of water,” he said. “She was bitten on both of her arms. The boyfriend was the one that made the phone call. He was trying to get her from the alligator’s mouth, and on the way to the hospital she did pass away from her injuries.”

Officials captured and put down two alligators – one measuring 12ft and another 13ft – from the waterway and submitted them for DNA analysis, Weber confirmed.

“We offer our condolences to this young lady’s family,” he added, without disclosing the victim’s identity. According to FWC data, Florida records roughly eight unprovoked alligator attacks annually on average. Since 1948, the state has witnessed merely 26 fatal alligator incidents.

Florida is estimated to be inhabited by approximately 1.3 million alligators.

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Three other people suffered minor injuries in the blaze

A 13-year-old boy and 19-year-old male are in a ‘serious condition’ after a fire ripped through a house in Blackpool.

The blaze broke out at the home on Redcar Road in the town at around 9.37am on Tuesday morning (June 30). Five fire engines and a command support unit were dispatched to the scene, with crews deploying breathing apparatus, hose reels and a jet to tackle the fire.

Police and fire crews remain on the scene as investigations are carried out into the cause of the blaze. Police said the boy and teenager are in a ‘serious condition’, reports Lancs Live.

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Three other people suffered minor injuries. A Lancashire Police spokesperson said in a statement: “We received a report of a house fire on Redcar Road at 9:37am today. We, along with our fire service colleagues, remain at the scene.

“Two people: a 19-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy have been taken to hospital in a serious condition. Three others suffered minor injuries.

“We remain in the early stages of our investigation. At this time we ask people to avoid the area and allow the emergency services to work.

“We will bring you an update when we are able to, but in the meantime, please remember that there are families involved in this, so we ask that you avoid speculating online or otherwise.”

A spokesperson for the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service stated: “At 9:29am on 30th June 2026, five fire engines from Blackpool, Fleetwood and Lytham, along with the command support unit from Hornby, an aerial ladder from Preston, attended an incident on Redcar Road, Blackpool. The incident involved a domestic building.

“Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used two hose reels and one jet. Two causalities were rescued from the building and handed into the care of North West Ambulance Service. Crews remain in attendance.”

Three flights have been cancelled at Manchester Airport as of Wednesday morning

Summer is one of the busiest times of year for travel with holidaymakers seeking out beach escapes and sun-filled citybreaks, and families jetting off abroad to make the most of the school break.

While heading abroad is exciting, there are things you need to remember when flying such as your passport, any visas that are required at your destination and allowing enough time to get to the airport. This year there are some changes in place when it comes to visiting the European Union.

It has now rolled out the Entry/Exit System, which requires third-country nationals such as Brits to provide their fingerprints and photographs at the EU border, creating a digital record. While this doesn’t require travellers to complete anything beforehand, many airlines are urging passengers to allow extra time for the checks and it’s important to keep your eye on any updates while at the airport.

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The European parliament has also announced changes to rules this summer relating to compensation, child seating and flight prices. One of the key changes will impact families flying with Ryanair.

From last week families can now sit together free of charge on the budget airline and will find out their seat allocation after they have checked in for their flight. Alternatively, adults who want to reserve a seat can pay a discounted fee to select one seat and have up to four children sitting beside them free of charge. You can find out more about it here.

When you are due to fly it’s important to monitor the status of your flight closely as last-minute changes can occur. Schedules can be disrupted due to numerous factors including bad weather, staffing issues or strike action.

Below are the latest cancelled and delayed (by more than 30 minutes) flights from Manchester Airport today, Wednesday, July 1, according to FlightRadar24.com, as of 9am.

Delayed flights

• 9am Swiss flight LX391 to Zurich, estimated departure 11.45am
• 9.05am Jet2 flight LS1713 to Zakynthos, estimated departure 10.25am
• 9.25am TUI flight BY2336 to Pafos, estimated departure 11am
• 12.10pm Virgin Atlantic flight VS73 to Orlando, estimated departure 12.50pm
• 2.50pm easyJet flight U22071 to Rhodes, estimated departure 3.45pm
• 2.55pm Qatar Airways flight QR28 to Doha, estimated departure 3.40pm
• 5.25pm TUI flight BY2368 to Palma de Mallorca, estimated departure 6.44pm
• 7pm easyJet flight U22049 to Madrid, estimated departure 8pm
• 7.35pm easyJet flight U21776 to Nice, estimated departure 9.07pm

Cancelled flights

• The 11am KLM flight KL1032 to Amsterdam is cancelled
• The 5.50pm Air France flight AF1169 to Paris is cancelled
• The 8.55pm Aer Lingus flight EI3329 to Dublin is cancelled

For more of today’s top stories, click here.

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was taken to the hospital this week after experiencing acute heart failure in prison.

Weinstein has been held at Rikers Island in Queens, New York, while awaiting sentencing for his 2025 sexual assault conviction.

Sources said Weinstein had been experiencing pneumonia when he experienced heart failure.

After having difficulty breathing, he was taken to Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward in Manhattan, where he’s still being treated.

Weinstein is reportedly on the mend, but isn’t in the clear to leave just yet.

The 74-year-old, who is behind bars after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault, was previously diagnosed with cancer.

In 2024, he was taken to the same hospital unit after ‘suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island’.

That hospital trip was attributed to an ‘alarming’ blood test result, his lawyer said.

Weinstein has been at the centre of rape or sexual misconduct allegations from more than 100 people, with some claims dating back to the 1970s.

The allegations sparked the Me Too movement, which highlighted sexual violence in the film industry, as well as worldwide.

He has denied all allegations against him, and was previously handed a 23-year prison sentence in 2020 – this was overturned by the Court of Appeal in a shocking development.

In early January, it was reported that Weinstein was considering a guilty plea deal after saying prison was a ‘death march’.

‘I know I was unfaithful, I know I acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone,’ Weinstein told the court earlier this year.

‘The isolation is unbearable. My body is failing,’ he added, describing Rikers jail, where he’s been held for two years, as ‘a slow march toward death’.

In 2024, it was revealed that he had been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia, a form of bone marrow cancer.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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Stuart Kerr was last seen around 7.30pm on Tuesday, 30 of June, 2026, in the Shawton Road area of Strathaven.

Police officers in Lanarkshire are appealing for information to help trace 53-year-old missing man Stuart Kerr.

Stuart was last seen around 7.30pm on Tuesday, 30 of June, 2026, in the Shawton Road area of Strathaven.

He is described as white, 6ft 1, slim build, short brown hair with grey flecks, and was last seen wearing grey trousers and black puffer jacket.

Inspector Caroline Brennan said: “We are growing increasingly concerned for Stuart’s welfare and encourage anyone with information to get in touch.

“He is known to frequent the Strathaven, East Kilbride and Hamilton areas.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident 0089 of Wednesday, 1 July, 2026.

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Drinkaware aims to reach 200,000 potentially problem drinkers in Scotland by 2030.

Football clubs are being urged to join the battle to bring interventions to 200,000 Scots who are unwittingly drinking their way to an early grave.

The SPFL and Rangers were key participants in a summit that seeks to nail down the most effective ways of reaching those who are drinking to excess without realising it.

The new initiative, led by leading alcohol charity Drinkaware aims to identify up to two million risky drinkers in the UK by 2030 – and help them to turn their lives around by facing up to the problem.

Industry leaders gathered at Rangers FC’s stadium for a roundtable summit, where the priority group was those drinking more than recommended low risk levels on a regular basis.

MP Dr Zubir Ahmed – a transplant surgeon – called for earlier interventions that will reach the one in five drinkers who put themselves at risk without knowing it.

At the summit at Ibrox, Ahmed said: “As an NHS transplant surgeon for more than twenty years, I have seen what happens when the conversation about risky drinking comes too late – patients arriving when the damage is already irreversible.

“Eight million people in the UK are drinking at risky levels, many without recognising it. That is the challenge Drinkaware’s new strategy is designed to meet, and I am proud to be part of that conversation.”

Drinkaware CEO Karen Tyrell said: “We’ve made real progress over the last 20 years, with people across the UK drinking less and more staying within low-risk guidelines. But there is still more to do. By working together, we can reach people earlier, support healthier choices, and reduce alcohol-related harm.

“With one in five adults drinking at increasing risk levels, Drinkaware is encouraging anyone concerned about their drinking to take its free Drinking Check, which provides personalised feedback on whether their drinking could be affecting their health.”

Michael Beeson, Head of Partnerships at Drinkaware, said: “Football clubs have a unique role at the heart of their communities, creating trusted spaces that can encourage earlier conversations about alcohol.

“Through partnerships like our Walking Football and Netball programmes with Hearts FC and Heineken UK, we’re bringing people. together for free, inclusive sessions that combine social activity with simple, practical tools like our Drinking Check.

“This highlights the real power of charities, football clubs and industry working together – an approach that will be critical to achieving our shared ambition of two million fewer risky drinkers in the UK by 2030.”

This new target has been developed with industry partners and stakeholders and aligns closely with the focus on prevention and early intervention in Scotland’s Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan.

Participants explored how trusted settings outside traditional healthcare, including football clubs, peer support groups and local community organisations, can play a greater role in encouraging earlier conversations and intervention.

Attendees included the SPFL Trust, Rangers FC, Heineken, Scottish Alcohol Industry Partnership, Community Alcohol Partnerships and The Wise Group.

Founded in 2006 by the UK Government, the devolved administrations and the alcohol industry, Drinkaware is funded by unrestricted voluntary donations from more than 120 organisations.

These include UK alcohol producers, retailers, supermarkets, venues, restaurant groups and sports associations.

The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline for both men and women advises that it is safest to drink less than 14 units a week on a regular basis.

If you regularly drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread your drinking evenly over 3 or more days rather than in one binge.

Care labels on clothes are no longer enough for supporting consumers to enjoy their clothes for longer.

Clothing retailers will face growing pressure to think about the whole lifecycle of their products with the forthcoming European introduction of a policy called extended producer responsibility – this holds fashion brands and manufacturers responsible for managing post-consumer waste.

Despite this, many still prioritise to sell new garments and place responsibility on consumers through care labels and instructions to ensure extend use and minimise clothing waste. Our research shows that although some retailers offer care products and repair services, these options are often hidden and secondary in retail stores. This is a missed opportunity. We also found that consumers want practical support to maintain and repair clothing in ways that extend lifespans and reduce environmental consequences.

Clothing lifespans vary depending on design, quality, materials and how garments are used and cared for. Yet, in today’s fast fashion system, which supports a culture of disposable fashion, garments are used for a shorter period than what they have been technically designed for.

Extending lifespan is not only about buying secondhand or reselling; how clothes are washed, repaired, stored and worn also matters. This means that even without retail support, there are steps you can take today.

Here are five ways to extend the life of your clothes through everyday care:

1. Rethink your washing habits

While care labels contain information on what washing machine and tumble dryer programmes are suitable for garments, using these machines less often helps to preserve the textiles. Instead of machine laundry, try to air and re-wear items.

When it comes to denim or clothes from a charity shop, leaving them in the freezer for a couple of days can help to refresh the garment. For small stains, spot cleaning by hand is another option.

2. Know which materials you’re wearing

Garments and textiles are complex: fibres, structure, colour and design all change how clothes get used and looked after. Learning more about textiles can enable you to treat your garments better and make smarter purchases.

Products such as brushes, lint rollers and sweater combs can refresh your garments with minimal effort. However, results depend on the material. For instance, de-pilling is more successful on 100% wool garments than on synthetic blends.

Stain removal depends on what the textile can handle, what various cleaning products do, and the type of stain. You can find information online in many languages.

Gentle stain-removal products are also widely available. Waterproof clothing can be reproofed, but try to avoid products containing forever chemicals known as Pfas. Pfas are chemical compounds that are water and fat repellant, however they don’t easily break down in nature and can accumulate in the environment. They are harmful to human and animal health.

Wax and leather conditioning can also prolong the life and performance of certain garments.

3. Rummage in your wardrobe

Many people, especially women, in affluent societies feel ashamed of how much clothing they own. Many wardrobes contain numerous passive clothes that are stored away and not planned for future use.

As a result, downsizing and decluttering are popular. However, viewing your wardrobe less critically can help you rediscover forgotten favourites and unlock the potential of the garments you already own. Holding on to clothes not currently in use can be a smart choice. Future changes in fashion, your body or your taste can make you regret discarding old favourites. Assessing what you wear, what you never wear, and why can also help you avoid new purchases and make more successful ones.

Slow fashion content creators share tips on social media like “define your style in three adjectives” pinpointing the attributes you should look for in garments and outfits, or colour analysis that helps identify the tones and colours that suit you best. These methods can be useful to identify and recognise the clothes that bring real joy.

4. Learn to repair and upcycle

You might know how to close a hole or replace a button, but how about darning socks, repairing knitted sweaters or hemming trousers? In our research, we found that even if consumers care about their clothes and want to extend their life, lack of repair skills can be a hindrance. However, the growing popularity of public repair workshops provide an opportunity to exchange repair skills and connect with a like-minded local community. Look for repair cafes via your local library, for example.

5. Choose retailers that prioritise aftercare

Fashion brands need to normalise extended use, and present garments as repair and care-worthy.

A few retailers have started to recognise the need to help consumers enjoy their clothes for longer and offer genuine after care. Look for brands and retailers that offer repair services, accessible original parts, patches and even repurposing and tailoring. This could encourage brands to provide more than just environmental messages on care labels or low-quality repair kits for hard-to-repair products.

The goal is to normalise caring for old products and make aftercare a core part of the retail industry, not an optional extra.