Lily Cole joins eco-friendly fashion challenge

Lily Cole is urging Hollywood stars to go green by recycling their red carpet outfits.

The British model/actress is the latest famous face to take part in Colin Firth's wife Livia's Green Carpet Challenge by wearing an 'old' gown to the Cannes premiere of her latest movie, Snow White and the Huntsman, last month (May12).

Cole admits it was a "relief" not to have to scour the rails for a new dress, and she's encouraging more A-listers to adopt an ethical approach to fashion by wearing their designer clothes more than once.

She tells Vogue.co.uk, "I felt it was absurd that I needed something new when I have so many nice dresses in my wardrobe. It was actually quite a relief to open my wardrobe and just pick something out. What is ridiculous is that this is interpreted as a slightly radical thought. It should be more the norm....

"You run the risk of perpetuating this myth that you can only wear things once, and everything has to be new and that nobody else can have worn them - because heaven forbid you might be photographed in the same dress as somebody else or yourself. I find the psychology of this so ridiculous... I do really believe that if you buy something, you should like it enough that you're going to be able to wear it out and in five years' time. I'm not a huge fan of trends."