Shop London: presenter and activist Charlie Craggs on the independent brands she loves

As part of our inaugural Shop London campaign, we asked some of our favourite Londoners which independent brands they’ll be throwing their support behind this Christmas
Vicky Lawton
Naomi May4 December 2020

Charlie Craggs is the definition of a multi-hyphenate.  

The 25-year-old born and bred Ladbroke Grove native is an award-winning author, activist, and soon-to-be presenter of an upcoming BBC documentary.  

Since she started presenting as her true female self in 2013, Craggs has made it her mission to help society better understand the plight of the trans community at all stages of their transitions.  

Whether it be ‘fabulous activism’ (the motto for her campaign ‘Nails Transphobia’ was “Fight transphobia, fabulously”) or editing the best-selling compilation of essays ‘To My Trans Sisters’, which was dubbed “a love letter to our community from the women who understand”, it would appear that accumulating strings to her bow comes as second nature to Craggs.  

As we prepare for a Christmas like no other, we asked the presenter and activist to select the five products she’ll be snapping up as part of the Standard’s Shop London campaign. Disclaimer: you will want to buy everything. 

Good Candles School Dinners Candle 

“Not only does the candle smell good (I LOVE SCHOOL DINNERS), it also looks good and does good, with 10 per cent going to foodbanks which is so important, especially right now. It's also made of soy wax which is something I always look out for when buying candles and you should too!”

Good Candles

Aurum Ldn Pre-Loved Textured Gold Hoops

“Love a gold hoop, love preloved things, love this brand. These earrings remind me of what my mum would wear when I was a child. When investing in real gold, I always go for timeless classic pieces rather than trendy stuff, I've wanted a pair like this forever, so these are on my Christmas list.”

Aurum Ldn

Milk Tooth LDN Vase Earrings

“On the flip side, I also love a good statement earring, and nobody does statement earrings like Milk Tooth, they always get their colour combos SO right, these look so expensive, but are such a steal! Sometimes if you're struggling to find a cute outfit, all you need to do is whack a pair of statement earrings on and it can take a basic look to a look-look. I need these in my life!”

Milk Tooth LDN

Stems Wilder Circle Pink Vase

“This is the vase of my dreams, the right mix of kitsch camp and modern minimalism. Would even look cute without flowers in it, which is how you know it's a damn good vase.”

Stems Wilder

Jore Copenhagen Triple Cane Ceiling pendant light

“It feels like everyone has that cute light shade from IKEA, that cylindrical cane one that's all over Instagram and Pinterest, I've been contemplating buying it too but I'll be taking it out of my basket to buy this one instead now because this is NEXT LEVEL.”

Blume

Learn more about Shop London here

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