Stella McCartney, who designed it, thinks so – but not everyone is so sure. And what happens to other stars’ jackets after they have worn them for one ceremony?

At last some good news for the planet: in conjunction with a general plea for sustainability, Joker star Joaquin Phoenix has vowed to re-purpose his Golden Globes tuxedo by wearing it to other awards ceremonies. Instead of, you know, wearing a brand new one each time.

To be fair to Phoenix, he did not make this pledge publicly. He was outed by Stella McCartney – who designed the tux in question – in a tweet that attracted its far share of ridicule. “This man is a winner,” she wrote, “wearing custom Stella because he chooses to make choices for the future of the planet. He has also chosen to wear this same Tux for the entire award season to reduce waste.” You can imagine the replies. “He’s wearing a suit more than once,” read one. “Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela take a seat a new hero is in town.”

For a multiple nominee such as Phoenix, a season’s wear is probably more than most men would get out of a dinner jacket; the last one I owned was almost entirely eaten by moths before it got a second outing.

The tuxedos provided for attendees are not the main excesses at awards ceremonies. Much more energy is expended on the dresses, which provide valuable publicity for top designers and can cost tens of thousands of pounds. They are the subject of stiff competition between stars, stylists and fashion houses. Last year, Pose star Billy Porter wore a tuxedo-and-ball-gown combination to the Oscars. It caused a stir, but no one asked if he planned to wear it again.

Phoenix’s pledge raises the question of what usually happens to post-red carpet dinner jackets. Virtually all the bespoke dresses and gowns are handed back to the fashion houses that loaned them out. The big designers archive them; the lesser-known ones may slip them back on to the market through a high-end sale or rental company.

Sometimes the tuxes are returned, and sometimes they are just given. It depends on the status of designer – and of the celebrity. In one memorable episode of Friends, Rachel, who is working for Ralph Lauren, allows Chandler to select his wedding tuxedos from a rack of custom suits once worn by award-winning actors. He ends up with Diane Keaton’s.

It is unclear what will become of Phoenix’s tux at the end of the 2020 awards season. By spring, it will be so threadbare that McCartney is unlikely to want it back. But, with care and determination, he might make it last until next year. I have found that you can hide most moth holes by applying a black Sharpie to the shirt underneath.