Make a change this month with these three very important charity initiatives from brands you love …
Rachel Jackson X Nicola Coughlan for Choose Love
There’s lots to entice visitors to Brown Thomas’ Grafton Street store at the moment. Not only are there some fantastic bargains in the summer sales, as well as the chance to peruse Create 2024, championing Irish design talent, but there’s also an opportunity to support the charity Choose Love.
Founded in 2015, it provides humanitarian aid and advocacy for refugees and displaced individuals globally helping them with everything from lifesaving equipment to food and legal support. Actress Nicola Coughlan has been a long time supporter of this charity and she has joined forces with jewellery designer Rachel Jackson to create a special piece, the profits of which go directly to Choose Love. Rachel has already collaborated with Dawn O’Porter and Gemma Style, raising over €160,000, and it is hoped that her collaboration with Nicola will have a significant impact.
Customers can view the Rachel Jackson X Nicola Coughlan “Electric Heart” necklace at Brown Thomas. This meaningful pendant, €100, is made from recycled silver and gold and features Art Deco-style sun rays surrounding a pink quartz heart. The necklace is engraved with Choose Love on the reverse. Worn solo or layered with other pieces, it’s bound to spark a conversation! www.racheljacksonlondon.com www.brownthomas.com
Nespresso x Change Please
For some a cup of coffee is a daily essential, for others it’s a luxury to be savoured. Now, the daily cuppa is being harnessed as a force for good in an admirable new partnership between Nespresso and social enterprise Change Please. Launched earlier this month at Outernet London, an exciting multi-sensory event space near Charing Cross and Tottenham Court Road tube stations, the collaboration hopes to highlight the realities of those experiencing homelessness.
Anna Lundstrom, CEO, Nespresso UK & Ireland and Cemal Ezel OBE, founder of social enterprise Change Please welcomed guests to the launch and explained their joint mission. “Our hope is that this campaign inspires everyone to join our movement and contribute, whether in big or small ways, to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Homelessness is something that can affect everyone and it takes us all to be part of the solution.”
Nespresso has already committed a minimum of €1m to support Change Please which aims to end homelessness through selling great tasting coffee. In fact, all of Change Please profits help people experiencing homelessness by training them to become baristas, supporting them with everything they need to turn their lives around, a living wage job, housing, therapy, a bank account and onward employment opportunities.
In Ireland, half of this initial donation will allow Change Please to begin its impact work including the set-up of a coffee training programme which will fund 50 trainees. In the long term, Change Please is hoping to partner with the Dublin Barista school; its coffee is already available in David Lloyd centres, We Work, Google HQ and Compass Ireland.
Nespresso has also launched a new blend to celebrate the collaboration; the Nespresso for Change Please pods are available for both Vertuo and original systems, €8.70 for ten. It’s a balanced coffee (best tasted as a cappuccino) composed of Arabica beans from Uganda and Yunnan, China’s historic coffee province.
Two limited edition glass coffee mugs have also been created and feature a pattern which symbolises solidarity and hope. For each mug sold, €19, Nespresso will donate ten per cent of the profits to the Change Please Foundation.
As Anna told THE GLOSS, “Ireland is a nation of coffee lovers. It’s a daily pleasure that brings people together and supports conversations. At Nespresso, we’re proud to support Change Please. Through each sip, we’re not only savouring a delightful brew but also contributing to positive change in our communities. By harnessing coffee as a force for good, change is truly possible.”
If you happen to be in London this weekend, do visit the Outernet where visitors can shop for Nespresso for Change Please coffee sleeves and accessories and see some audio-visual stories that highlight the partnership and the incredible work Change Please has done in the last decade. For more information on Nespresso X Change Please, visit www.nespresso.com and www.changeplease.org.
Christian Louboutin X Idris & Sabrina Capsule for Walk A Mile In My Shoes
Christian Louboutin has collaborated with his friends, Idris and Sabrina Elba, on a capsule collection of shoes and leather goods for Walk A Mile In My Shoes (WAMIMS), now in its third year.
Challenging someone to walk a mile in your shoes is a bid to think empathetically, especially when it comes to conversations around racial tolerance, and it developed following the death of George Floyd in 2020. That year, the Elbas took part in a live online discussion with Ayo Tometi, co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter. The couple wanted to use their public platforms to raise awareness for social justice, and they felt a charity collaboration was a logical progression. Since then the initiative has helped raise $2 million in just two years.
This year, the trio has co-designed a capsule collection which features a colourful print that incorporates the WAMIMS acronym. Sabrina, Idris and Christian were inspired by African culture, especially hair braiding, and braids appear as a recurring motif on the shoes and accessories, from the 2002SL Low men’s sneaker to the Fatima 120 stiletto and the Hibaq 55 kitten heeled shoe with straps made from multiple fine braids. All proceeds from the sales will be donated to six charities around the world: The Gathering For Justice, Elman Peace, Immediate Theatre, The Raining Season, Casa 93, and AfriKids. The collection is available online and in select boutiques. www.eu.christianlouboutin.com