If you're an Armani junky with a Primark budget, help will soon be at hand: Oxfam has opened the first of a new chain of 'boutique' stores which will sell designer threads to West Londoners with a conscience (or without a trust fund).
The new store in Westbourne Grove will still sell donated clothes – but beige cardies and discarded Christmas jumpers will be banned in favour of Miu Miu skirts (a snip at £50), Stella McCartney jackets (a mere £90) and other top-end catwalk clobber. Prices are higher than your average charity shop fare, but where else can you buy an original designer piece for under a ton?
As well as designer gear, the boutique stores (two more of which will open in London this summer) will sell customised pieces by fashion-school designers, fair-trade fashion labels and general ethically-sourced clobber. But it's bound to be the promise of a bargain Armani or Gucci original that pulls in the punters.
Whether the boutique comes complete with stern-faced size 6 assistant we can't confirm: but a visit to Oxfam Boutique is bound to be more rewarding than pressing your nose against a Bond St window. Expect to see a better-dressed London soon.
By Matt Crossick
Image by loungerie on Flickr courtesy of the Creative Commons licence.
