Friday night saw the gorgeously girly boutique, Chica, host a fashion, art and music extravaganza in London’s East End. Based in Spitalfields, the plush, girly and uber luxurious store was transformed into a bohemian, flower-filled festival, all in aid of the charity, Art Against Knives. Set up by Chica boutique employee, Katy Dawe, the charity was founded after Katy’s friend, and fellow art student, Oliver Helmsley, was stabbed in an unprovoked attack in east London back in 2008. Leaving the 21 year old paralysed and in need of constant medical support for the rest of his life, the friends are now working together to raise awareness of knife crime through the medium of art.
Based in and around the Chica store, the bijous shop heaved with flowers, ribbons and pastel hued lanterns, spreading outside to where a stage and retro Routemaster were stationed. The bus, suitably spruced up with blooms, multicoloured hula hoops and a giant, Art Against Knives banner, housed a carefully curated exhibition, showing some of London’s brightest young artists. As we negotiated our way around the bus and up the narrow stairs, tunes from the house band rung out across the space, as we sipped on comp cocktails and perused the quirky, controversial, and highly skilled art work on display.
Rammed with cool Hoxtonites and young professionals alike, the event was jam packed and ran like clockwork, as efficient staff, dressed up in super glamorous Chica dresses, whizzed through the crowd with drinks and nibbles for the partygoers. Bringing the spirit of the Sixties back to the East End with a bang, it was a brilliantly positive event to come from such a tragic story, and we can’t wait to see what the charity has planned next.
Fiona Anderson
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