Two St Albans stylists are hosting a one day pop-up vintage clothes shop to help fund a charity fashion show next year.
This summer, Sarah Gerrard-Jones and Eliza Lau-Johnston smashed their fundraising target of £1,500 by collecting £2,300 for Help Refugees at a successful catwalk event in Kingsbury Barn.
The show, which was attended by more than 100 people, showcased 20 outfits upcycled from charity shops.
Sarah and Eliza would like to host the event again next year and are opening a pop-up shop in St Albans to kick-start the project.
All the clothes in the temporary store, which will open only on November 25 in Alternative Barbering Co, are being sourced from vintage and charity shops.
Cash raised will go towards funding next year’s show.
Eliza said: “I am really excited. It’s on the back of the show we did because it was so successful, but we are going to make the next one bigger and better.
“It is a little different and everyone can walk away with something original because everything is a one off. We already have people fighting over the clothes.”
She met Sarah through their daughters, who are both named Eva, and the friends became close through a mutual love of clothes.
They were inspired to raise money for the humanitarian charity after Eliza saw a picture on Facebook of the Calais Jungle.
Next year’s event will be in aid of a refugee charity again. Eliza said: “I feel really strongly about this, because it is still happening, it is really horrible to see people displaced from their homes.
“A home is where your heart is so it is so hard to see people not have a place to build their home.”
The pop-up coincides with the monthly St Albans Antique and Vintage Market, which will be held on St Peter’s Street from 9am to 3pm.
Eliza and Sarah’s shop will be open from 2pm to 6pm. Visit www.facebook.com/events/292842858237892/?ti=icl for more information.
There may be another pop-up shop event next spring.
Help Refugees started as a social media campaign three years ago. The charity guarantee 94 per cent of donations go straight to the frontline.
It has supported more than 722,500 people across 75 projects in 12 countries, including France, Greece, Italy, Serbia, and Lebanon.
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