You know Christmas is on the horizon when the Choose Love pop-up returns to Soho. The one-of-a-kind shop offers a brilliant way to give gifts with real meaning over the festive season, stocking essential supplies and life-saving interventions for refugees and displaced people around the world, as well as raising funds to help them get through the harsh winter months. And in light of recent global events, it seems as if the vital help they provide will be more crucial than ever this year.
Opening on Carnaby Street from Thursday 2 November, the shop is returning for its seventh year and everything sold in the pop-up is guaranteed to help change a life, whether that’s a donation for hot food, emergency housing or a warm coat, or a purchase of one of their limited-edition Christmas gifts, with the proceeds going to the multiple organisations they work with around the world. Last year, the shop raised over £1.2 million, and over the past six years it has seen support from the likes of Harry Styles, Dua Lipa and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, alongside co-founder Dawn O’Porter.
This year’s iteration is set to be better than ever thanks to their new Choose Love boutique, which is running from 2 – 18 November and has been curated by top celebrity stylists Aimee Croysdill, Cher Coulter and Holly Eva White, who between them have styled everyone from Sienna Miller and Iris Law to Naomi Harris and Emma Radacanu. The boutique will sell a selection of donated fashion pieces from some of the biggest names in music and film, including Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Paloma Faith, Michelle Dockery and Nicola Coughlan. There will also be the chance to snap up pieces donated by luxury designer brands, such as Prada, Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo, Vivienne Westwood, House of Hackney, The Vampire’s Wife, Simone Rocha, ARIES, Self Portrait, Martha Freud, Grenson and Liberty.
As in previous years, the Choose Love shop will be hosting various events in-store, from craft sessions, film screenings and live music performances to insightful workshops with the team from the popular podcast Asylum Speakers and cult electronic music platform Resident Advisor. You can also expect the odd surprise in-store, with plenty of celebrity friends popping in to volunteer their help while the pop-up is running.
“The Choose Love Shop is the absolute highlight of my year, every year,” says Choose Love co-founder Dawn O’Porter. “The way everyone steps up, when we open those doors, fills my heart with hope. The Choose Love boutique promises to be a lovely addition too, with gorgeous bargains for Christmas party looks and pressies for everyone and all the proceeds helping make sure we can get supplies to people who need them most this winter.”
“With more displaced people in the world than ever before and with the cost of the basic supplies needed for survival higher than ever, we know we need to do everything we can this winter to get people the support they need,” says Choose Love CEO and co-founder Josie Naughton. “The Choose Love boutique and then the Choose Love shop will quite simply be lifelines over the cold months, and we are so looking forward to connecting with our incredible community to show what we can do when we come together and Choose Love.”
Since Choose Love began in 2015, it has helped almost four million refugees and displaced people and worked in over 30 countries with grassroots organisations. It’s the perfect place to visit ahead of this festive season to help raise vital funds for their charities, as well as pick up a pre-loved designer bargain or a piece of celebrity fashion history. If you’re looking for a more meaningful way to do your Christmas shopping this year, there’s nowhere better.
The Choose Love Boutique opens from 2 – 18 November and the Choose Love Shop opens from 22 November – 24 December at 57 Carnaby Street, Soho, London W1F 9QF
chooselove.org
