It started one evening last summer, with a front-room full of mates, surrounded by boxes of unworn clothes.
Radio and TV presenter Maya Jama and Julie Adenuga, host on Apple Music’s Beats 1, were two of those mates; Maya’s still-bearing-tags clothes the garments in question. Within weeks, the two had launched COLLECTIONS: an online shop selling their clothes, with all proceeds going to charity.
A pop-up shop quickly followed and now a second, featuring donations by the likes of Stormzy and Jourdan Dunn, will this weekend be raising money for The Big Issue’s sister charity The Big Issue Foundation.
Collections X The Big Issue Foundation
The Big Issue meets them in the event space about-to-be fundraising store on London’s Carnaby Street just days ahead of the pop-up. There’s not a nerve on display as Jama, 24, and Adenuga, 30, trip over each other to answer our questions. They’re nothing short of a bloody delight: bright, articulate, full of positivity and energy; two women determined simply to be the change they want to see.
“Whenever I’m in central London, I see sellers, selling their magazine, and I thought it would be sick for us,” says Julie. “We talked about homelessness in the UK and it just made sense for us to donate to people that are close to this space [on Carnaby Street].”
