Holly Barclay / 08 March 2025 / Categories: Product and Brands, Branded Products, Clothes

Esther Perbandt found in a UK Charity Shop

It was a designers piece, an unexpected find that started a conversation in the homeless charity I’d popped into because Specsavers had mended my glasses without charging me, I’d asked if they had a charity box for me to pay it forward and they told me there was a food bank and a homeless charity shop next door who’d be grateful of any donation.

I watched Esther Perbandt a Berlin based fashion designer whose aethethic is essentially black with an eponymous label that embodies her gothic military relaxed style notable for her signature worn on the back of the head mandarin communist style peaked cap, win Project Runway. The hit TV show created for Bravo in the US by ex Miramax Executive Barbara Schneeweiss.

The show catapulted Esther and her brand into almost household name territory.

It was an unlikely setting to find this couture donation already significantly reduced in a setting where the next most expensive thing was £20 maximum.

I mentioned the piece to my friend and all of a sudden we were engaged in an amazing conversation with other charity shoppers rooting around for a bargain but like us Project Runway watchers.

I wanted to share this needle in a haystack find, completely by chance, a diamond shining brightly in amongst a load of stuff not many people would want.

I thought it would be amazing for Esther to see her pieces being recycled and really valued and understood in such an unlikely place as sustainability is at the core of her brand.

What an amazing experience to find something completely unexpected and share a moment with like minded individuals who also appreciated the shared camaraderie and common sense in donating, sharing and recycling and the magic that happens when you stumble across something you absolutely love you couldn’t normally ever afford.

The moonlight V neck sweater too from Esther Perbandt retails for $307, £70 in almost new mint condition and the money goes to charity.

I told this story to hopefully inspire every young designer to make clothes so beautifully people want to share and pass them on to others.

By far the very best thing in the whole shop this day.