The Grand Opening

Saturday 22 May saw the grand opening of Mary’s Living & Giving shop for Save the Children in the heart of London’s Westbourne Grove and what a great day it was! 

By Friday the fashion industry was on its toes. Fashionistas were tweeting and retweeting all the latest updates – vintage donations from Chanel, Grazia must-haves, designer shoes and bags. Sienna Miller’s crew at Twent8Twelve had popped in to the preview evening on Thursday and donated an amazing necklace which was designed for the shop launch called ‘Carry on Giving’. A selection of the most beautiful pieces had landed on my desk kindly donated by Future Classics, while Armand Basi had flown over 4 boxes of in-season fashion items straight from Barcelona.

The press was also hot on the heels of our story. When we were featured in Vogue online and Daily Candy we knew that the fashion world was watching closely. Right on time, the lovely Mary Portas was on the sofa with Jonathan Ross. Not only did she mention the shop opening in Westbourne Grove but she came armed on Saturday with donations from both Jonathan Ross and Gary Lineker, who was also a guest on the show. Go Mary!

The opening was a great success. Hundreds of excited shoppers queued at Westbourne Grove to get a first glimpse of the amazing shop, speak to Mary Portas, purchase some of the most sought after fashion donations and be part of the charity shopping revolution. The shop was jam packed with designer goodies. It was a great watching some of the eager shoppers eyes light up as they scanned the heaving shelves. Cupcakes and Vita Coco drinks were handed out to the crowd and you could have a free manicure on-site.

The Grazia team were on board. Grazia’s Editor-in-Chief, Jane excitedly tweeted about all our amazing items, in particular the cabinet of Chanel vintage handbags. The first keen shopper, who had been waiting outside since 8am, snapped up the Mulberry Alexa bag. Just after the first hour the shop had made £2500. Our aim was to raise £5,000 on the day and we made a whopping £7,000. 

Mary also got the crowd going as she ripped off the signage on our window at 11am, marking the opening of the best fashion charity shop in town.

Find out more about the Mary Portas Living and Giving Shop for Save the Children

Volunteer to work at our Living and Giving shop in Westbourne Grove