Oxfam will open its first fashion boutique on Saturday, as it plans to transform the dowdy image of the charity shop.

Former Topshop brand director Jane Shepherdson has been brought in to oversee the new format, which will be rolled out across the UK. The shops will offer a mix of new, remade and donated clothes as well as involving aspiring designers from the London College of Fashion.

The first boutique will be at the Oxfam store at Westbourne Grove, west London, for World Fair Trade Day on Saturday. Plans are also afoot to open further boutiques at stores at Chiswick and on the Kings Road.

Well-known designers including Giles Deacon and Christopher Kane have also donated garments to create exclusive pieces, which will be auctioned on online auction giant eBay.

Oxfam head of retail Sarah Farquhar told the Financial Times: “Our challenge was to shake up some of the traditional stereotypical images of charity shops. What has become apparent, particularly in urban larger centres, was that we needed to specialise and to do it with a bit more authority.”

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