Charity, Europe, Fashion, Retail, United Kingdom

Celeb-fronted campaign exceeds 400k donations and land in-store at Traid – ‘Shop the Drop’ this (Second-hand) September

29 August 2025

Image credit: Image courtesy of Traid

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Press Release

London - August 29th, 2025

Second-hand fashion’s first port of call – Traid celebrates campaign success and launches a host of new season activations this September. This year, with celebrities, stylists, and a host of creative talent leading the way, Traid is going bigger: more donations, more impact, and more chances for the public to shop must-have new season donation edits.

Traid are thrilled to announce that Year Two of their ‘Closet Clear-out Challenge’ campaign has surpassed the target by over 100k, gaining a staggering 424,302 garment donations this summer!!

With the support of a host of celebrities including Martin Freeman, Sharon Horgan, Laura Bailey, Patrick Grant, Caryn Franklin, Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves) and more; the campaign ask was simple – donate your unwanted, quality clothes throughout the months of July & August, to help Traid fund vital global projects focused on supporting garment workers, their families, and communities to help enable a future of change.

‘SHOP THE DROP’ – COLLECTED, CURATED, IN-STORE NOW

This September, Traid cements its reputation as London’s leading charity retailer with a jam-packed programme of activations including the in-store launch of the ‘Closet Clear-Out Challenge’ – SHOP THE DROP.

Each of Traid’s 12 stores will showcase a curated edit of standout pieces donated by our incredible community and celebrity supporters including Martin Freeman, Sharon Horgan, Patrick Grant, Laura Bailey, Caryn Franklin MBE and many more. With celebrities, industry stylists and a host of creative talent all showcasing their own edits.

“These clothes have a history, both on screen and off, and as much as I’ve loved having them hang in my wardrobe, I’d love even more to think of someone else enjoying them and that together we’re helping create a positive future for fashion. It’s amazing to know my wardrobe could help raise money for such an important cause as Traid.”

Sharon Horgan, actress, producer, director & campaign supporter.

From donation to in-store drop – now’s the chance for customers to raid the wardrobes of their favourite names and be the first to shop the edits, knowing they’re helping shape the future of fashion. From Sharon Horgan’s outfits as featured in Catastrophe & Bad Sisters up for grabs, as well as Jim Moir’s signature suit from ‘Surrealissimo: The Scandalous Success of Salvador Dali’, to Martin Freeman’s incredible array of designer trainers, to Laura Bailey’s Rejina Pyo white trouser suit and so much more, Traid is the place to be for incredible second-hand shopping this September.

From designer gems to one-of-a-kind favourites, these edits will drop throughout September in all Traid stores, giving fashion lovers a rare chance to shop pre-loved pieces with star power. Once they’re gone, they’re gone — so fashion fans are encouraged to follow Traid’s channels closely and be ready to pounce.

STYLISTS & CREATIVE TALENT SHOWCASED AT THE STORES:

Traid have also recruited a heavy-hitting style squad of leading fashion stylists who, alongside our celebrity supporters and a plethora of creative sustainable style talent, have curated their own edits of the incredible campaign donations and selected the very best to feature in each store – check out the Traid website to see who will be popping up where and across Traid socials to view each stylist’s signature style edit and when they’ll drop.

The rollcall of stylist edits includes Nicole Smallwood, Ursula Lake, Karen Clarkson, Chloe Beeney and Shelly Vella.

Traid’s roster of creative talent showcases Bianca Foley, Chani Ra, Isabelle Landicho, Mary Mandefield, Rubi Rasheed & Sabrina Grant.

FULL EVENTS PROGRAMME:

Thursday 25^th Sept: ’Time to fix fashion’s future – Reimagine, Repair, Rewear’ – Live industry panel event chaired by Gemma Metheringham, aka The Elephant in my Wardrobe, with leading voices within sustainable fashion,hosted at Traid’s Shepherds Bush Panellists will be discussing how second-hand is becoming the first choice, why it matters, how fashion perceptions are changing and why now is the time to rethink the connotation of ‘new’.
Saturday 20^th Sept 12-4pm: Lewisham store ‘Second-hand Social’
Friday 26^th Sept: ‘Shop the Drop’ pop-up shop at Portobello market
Throughout Sept: Weekly workshops at Traid’s Shepherd’s Bush store including:
- Customise your own second-hand scarf with Nerrisa Pratt
- Knit and crochet with Colechi
- Fashion illustration with Elyse Blackshaw
- Upcycle a second-hand garment with Material Grrrlz

“We’ve been amazed by the response to this year’s campaign, with over 400,000 garments donated. The generosity of our incredible Traid community will help fund projects that improve the lives of garment workers and their families – from supporting workers’ rights, to providing childcare and education. A huge thank you to everyone who cleared out their wardrobes for us throughout the campaign.

This September will be extra special, thanks to the brilliant group of celebrity supporters, stylists and creatives who have come together to curate their own second-hand edits to feature across our shops. With these unique collections, plus in-store events and workshops, there are so many reasons to visit Traid this month.”

Maria Chenoweth, Chief Executive, Traid.

What impact will this actually have?

These donations equate to 141,434kg of clothing being put back into circulation to be resold and reworn, equalling 1,179 tonnes of CO2 emissions, (roughly the same as taking around 894 cars off the road for a year) and 226,294 m3 of water being saved, (this volume could supply drinking water for 310,100 people for an entire year).

Notes to editors

NOTES TO EDITORS TRAID: FURTHER INFORMATION: Throughout 2025, Traid continue their industry-leading and future-thinking work and vision, committed to supporting the future of charity retail. Following their recent award-winning store refit designs, Traid will continue this expansion of sustainably minded, new interiors and curated displays. Traid’s projects have improved working conditions and access to rights for more than 800,000 garment workers, stopped child labour in global supply chains, and supported thousands of cotton farmers to stop using highly hazardous pesticides. Brand history: Traid is a pioneering charity retailer on a mission to transform fashion for good. Founded in the late 90s, Traid began by collecting and reselling second-hand clothing with just four stores. Today, the charity has twelve stores in high streets across London, a free home collection service and a network of over 700 clothing banks, to give fashion a new lease of life. Globally, it funds initiatives that empower and support the people who make our clothes, from organic cotton farmers to garment workers. To date, Traid has put over 240 million garments back into use, saving over 655,000 tonnes of CO2 and 111 million m³ of water. Through the charity’s global projects, its funding has supported over 800,000 garment workers and their families, making a meaningful impact on communities around the world. As one of the only charities that collects and curates all donations centrally, Traid delivers thoughtful, considered edits to each of its stores. Traid’s work extends the life of clothes whilst reducing the need to buy new, unlocking the power of your wardrobe to fund projects that drive real, lasting change. Traid celebrates individuality and self-expression through fashion, curates the ultimate edits, and actively drives change within the fashion industry. STYLISTS AT THE STORES BIOGRAPHIES:

Chloe Beeney: With over 20+ years of experience in fashion publishing and luxury branding, Chloe is a unique cross-discipline creative and fashion director. Combining her years of editorial and brand experience, Chloe styles for editorial, campaigns and red-carpet
Karen Clarkson: Karen Clarkson is a fashion stylist and editor, where her work has been published in Interview, Dazed, i-D, O32c, Vogue, V Magazine, Glamour, Esquire, Elle, Paper, Flair, Clash. Karen is also co-Founder of renowned vintage fashion boutique, Found & Vision on Portobello Road.
Nicole Smallwood: Nicole has been working in London’s fashion Industry for almost 20 years. Her career has encompassed styling celebrities on the red carpet, advertising campaigns for luxury and high street brands along with shooting editorially for magazines such as Harpers, L’Officiel, Elle, Glamour, Stylist to mention a few. Alongside this she currently holds the position of Fashion Director at Country & Town House magazine.
Shelly Vella: Shelly’s career has spanned 30+ years as fashion director for some of the UK’s biggest magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire Health & Beauty and You Magazine. From art directing and styling look books, window and advertising images, she’s worked with many big names including celebrities and supermodels such as Kate Moss and Naomi Campell and is passionate about building a cleaner, greener space in the fashion and beauty industries.
Ursula Lake: Ursula has been working as a Fashion Editor, Art Director and Brand Consultant for more than 20 She has contributed to numerous international publications including Vogue, Net-a-Porter’s Edit magazine, The Sunday Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Style, GQ and more.

MARIA CHENOWETH BIOGRAPHY: For over 30 years, Maria Chenoweth’s career has been all about being an advocate of the power and purpose of wearing and shopping second-hand and is a leading spokesperson for charity retail. As Chief Executive of the charity retailer Traid, Maria drives the organisation’s vision of a unique proposition focused on offering an alternative to buying new clothes and funding global projects to improve the garment industry. Joining Traid in 1999 as Head of Retail and becoming the CE in 2003, Maria turned a failing charity into a bright, successful organisation, which has since become one of London and the UK’s best-loved charity retailers. Through the Open University’s open-door policy, Maria completed an MBA in 2019 and has since become an OU fellow. Her exceptional contributions in teaching and research have led to her being awarded the prestigious honorary degree of Doctor of the Open University. In 2023 along with Wayne Hemingway, she co-founded the award-winning Charity Super.Mkt – the UK’s first ever multi-charity shop, which brings local and national charities retailing together all under one roof. TRAID PROJECT PARTNERS – FURTHER INFORMATION:

Since 2013, Traid has partnered with Nagorik Uddyog funding day care centres for the children of garment workers in Bangladesh, providing over 2300 children with safe, clean spaces for recreational activities and education, along with nutritious meals and clean drinking water.
Traid has trained over 17,000 farmers in Benin in Ethiopia to go pesticide-free and organic on long-term projects working with Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK), OBEPAB and PAN Ethiopia.
Traid is supporting a three-year programme of work focused on improving working conditions for at least 25,000 garment workers with the Rights Education and Development Centre (READ) in India.
Traid partners with GoodWeave to prevent child labour in the rug, textile, and garment sectors in India and Nepal, by supporting at-risk children and child labourers into education for a brighter future. Through this project we’re supporting education and life skills for over 1,400 children.
Traid is helping provide employment skills and training for 60 teenage girls in Bangladesh so they can stop working on dangerous landfill sites as rubbish pickers with the Grambangla Unnayan Committee.

In the UK, Traid currently works alongside 24 boroughs across London engaging with local communities raising awareness about textile waste, supporting donation initiatives and offering repair workshops alongside their free collection services. SUPPORTING STATISTICS:

The Social value generated by UK charity shops reached £75.3 billion in Jan-Dec 2022. (Source: Charity Retail Association)
Charity shops in the UK raise around a third of a billion – £387m million – each year. (Source: Charity Retail Association)
In the UK, 49% of used textiles, including clothing, end up in general waste. This equates to about 35 items per person per year ending up in the bin rather than being reused or recycled. (Source: WRAP Textiles Market Situation Report)
The global fashion and textile industry employs an estimated 300 million to 430 million people worldwide, with approximately 75 million factory workers worldwide, yet less than 2% earn a living wage. Women account for 60-80% in different regions around the world. (Source: Earthday.org)
In the UK approximately 1.45 million tonnes of used textiles are generated each year. (Source: WRAP Textiles Market Situation Report)
An estimated 100 billion garments are produced globally each year. (Source: McKinsey & Co, Ellen MacArthur Foundation)
Globally, more than 60 million workers are employed in the garment and footwear sector. Many of whom are parents and caregivers who support families. It is estimated that more than 100 million children are affected in the garment and footwear supply chain globally – as workers, children of working parents, and community members. (UNICEF)

DONATION PROCESS: There are four main ways to donate clothes to Traid.

Book a free home collection if you live in or near London. Opt to Gift Aid your donations to increase their value by 25%. You can book online or by phone 020 8733 2595.
Post your donation for free via any Collect+ store in the UK (minimum 1kg). Download the free postage label, print it at home or in-store and attach it to your packaged donation. Drop your donation off at your local Collect+ store and we’ll do the rest.
Donate at your local Traid charity shop. Visit one of our 12 shops on high streets across London to drop your donations off in person.
Donate at your nearest Traid clothing bank. Traid has approximately 700 banks located across London and surrounding areas.

STORE ADDRESSES: https://traid.org.uk/shop-at-traid/

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