Clamour for celebrity clobber at opening of Mind boutique

Posted Thursday 1 April 2010

Photos of the shop opening and eco-fashion designs

Fern Britton’s Mulberry shoes, Norman Cook’s Stussy coat and a Les Chiffoniers designer leather jacket donated by Daisy Lowe were among the star items up for grabs at Mind’s new boutique charity shop, which opened on 31 March in Brighton’s Kemptown.

Mind's St James’ Street store launched in style  with a fashion show where models showed off exclusive garments created for Mind by young designers from the University of Creative Arts (UCA). Designs included a dress crafted of ties, a double-denim skirt and a classy little black dress. Fresh from a tour of the catwalk at the Ideal Homes Show last week, the outfits are made entirely from recycled clothes and are available for purchase in store.

The shop interior has been entirely redesigned and refurbished by UCA designers to create Brighton’s first ever charity boutique, which is packed with top-of-the range with vintage threads and high street bargains as well as the items donated by Mind’s celebrity supporters. The celebrity outfits are on display in store, and can be bought via private bid.

Amanda Barrett, manager of the boutique in Brighton said:

The shop has always been highly popular with the locals, and it’s exciting that we can now offer even more to our customers by turning it into a true vintage shopping destination. We’ve been stocking up especially for the launch so we now have on our rails some of the best second hand clothes Brighton has to offer, including our specially commissioned re-cycled garments and our celebrity donations, which I hope people bid generously for. I’m very grateful to everyone who has been involved in this project, and after today’s successful launch, we’ve started as we mean to go on!

Bob Monteath, Director of Mind shops, attended the launch and said:

Charity shops can be an Aladdin’s den of top quality second hand items, and we wanted to experiment by creating a shop that did its stock justice. Brighton has a strong reputation for recycling, donating and eco-conscious shopping, so we thought Brighton would be the perfect place to start.

Notes to editors

• Address: The Mind Boutique, 5 St James’ Street, Brighton, BN2 1RE.
• Silent bids to be submitted in writing at the Mind boutique by the end of Friday 9 April. The highest bidder will win the item.
• Items being auctioned include a pair of Mulberry shoes donated by Fern Britton, estimated to be worth over £300, a leather Les Chiffoniers jacket donated by Daisy Lowe estimated to be worth £1000, a number of items including All Saints jeans donated by the model Josh Beech and a large Stussy coat donated by Norman Cook.

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