VINTAGE fashion is proving to be a booming industry in York - with a string of shops now operating in the city.

A University of Hull survey recently found that 25 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds opted for secondhand clothing throughout Christmas and New Year, citing concerns for the planet as their main reason.

Celebrities have also set the trend for pre-loved fashion, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, who rented her wedding dress in May at £45 a day.

York is not short of vintage clothing shops - including Chinese Laundry in Goodramgate, Expressions in Walmgate and the recently opened Vintage Store in Parliament Street.

Two more stores on the scene are Dog and Bone Vintage in Castlegate and Bowler and Betty, located in Fossgate.

Nicholas Musgrove-Barker, owner of Dog and Bone, said: “It’s all about those one-off pieces - it’s feels a bit like hunting for treasure!

“York has a fantastic range of vintage shops which cater for all interests and ages. We find a huge range people shop in store, who are after that one off piece you won’t find elsewhere.

“Buying vintage or second hand is as important as recycling your plastic bottles and something we should all be doing to reduce our carbon footprint, it’s an awareness of this which has increased demand within this industry.”

However, Nicole Blake, owner of Bowler and Betty, said the growing demand for vintage items had made it increasingly hard to stock her shop in the city with the genuine article.

She said: “We have personally found it increasingly harder to find great quality vintage pieces that are in great condition.

“Unfortunately, in recent years we have had to increase our stock to reproduction clothing.

“Now the majority of our clothes are new, which our customers love as they are able to get the authentic 1940s and 1950s style without having to risk buying clothes that are 70-plus years old that could fall apart at any moment.”

Regardless, fast fashion creates an estimated 92 million tonnes of waste each year, plus, the industry contributes to modern-day slavery and coercive labour practices, according to Hull University.

Professor Dan Parsons, Hull’s energy and environment institute director, said: “We will have to live with the consequences of our throwaway culture for decades – if not centuries – to come, and discarded clothing created by the emergence of fast fashion has played a significant role in what is a tsunami of microplastic wastes around the world.

“Saying no to fast fashion, is an important step in the right direction.”

The university survey, involving 2,094 adults across the UK, found that a quarter of vintage shoppers were 18 to 24 year olds. Only five per cent of vintage shoppers were aged over 55.