Longford Boutique Welcomes Lorraine Keane

Last Thursday Soul Boutique on Dublin Street hosted an event in collaboration with Fashion Relief and Lorraine Keane.

The event saw a collection of preloved clothing available for purchase, which Lorraine and her Fashion Relief team brought down from their shop in Dublin.

All of the proceeds from the pop-up event went to Breast Cancer Ireland.

Soul Boutique is totally sustainable. Each piece in the boutique is sourced from sustainable brands. Even the clothing rails are recycled.

Bernie Griffin is the owner of Soul Boutique. She opened the shop just over a year ago and has worked with Lorraine Keane before.

Entering the shop is unlike any other. There is a welcoming energy immediately, it feels more like a walk-in wardrobe than simply a shop.

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“I wanted something with a bit of a funky edge to it, not the same as you get in every other shop.

“I had spent over a year resourcing different brands and their work ethics, labour laws, and things like that.

“Then I finally decided to take a leap of faith, I brought brands and they just went down a real treat in Longford,” explained Bernie.

Bernie has years of experience in retail which prepared her to open her boutique. She clearly loves clothes and fashion and has an eye for style which can be seen when she immediately puts together an outfit for Marie of Fashion Relief in seconds. It’s a skill.

“I’ve always bought sustainable fashion,” she explains, “I have no problem investing in good quality clothing that’s going to last the test of time.

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“And that’s the key, there are too many fast fashion shops around, fast fashion products around too much going to landfills and we want to promote the sustainability end of it.”

It’s no wonder that Lorraine and Bernie decided to team up for this event. Fashion Relief was started by Lorraine Keane and has worked with multiple charities such as Trócaire and Oxfham. 15 months ago it teamed up with Breast Cancer Ireland, in its first year with the organisation it brought in around €250,000 through the door of the shop located in Dublin’s Frascati centre.

The preloved clothing shop takes in second-hand clothing of high quality, whatever it gets that it can’t sell be it bad quality or too worn is given to a recycling company. The proceeds then go to the charity.

Every cent Fashion Relief makes goes to Breast Cancer Ireland.

Lorrain Keane was present at the event walking in to a warm welcome and immediately getting to know everyone in attendance.

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The event was obviously for Breast Cancer Ireland. Breast Cancer is a disease that unfortunately everyone is familiar with be it themselves or a loved one. Multiple women at the event have similar stories.

“I know too many people who have breast cancer and it’s just great to be able to give back and get the research done and hopefully eventually get a cure,” said Bernie.

Speaking to Lorraine at the event she said, “Tonight is to raise money for Breast Cancer Ireland which is a charity that touches all of us in some way and it’s so nice to get together with an amazing bunch of women.”

Lorraine also sang Bernie’s praises when talking about Soul Boutique.

“It’s so lovely to be able to collaborate with somebody like Bernie, who has, in my mind, the most sustainable fashion boutique in all of Ireland and possibly even Europe.

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“Absolutely everything in this boutique every fixture and fitting nevermind label is all recycled, upcycled and created sustainably,” said Lorraine.

And sustainable it is as Bernie and her husband have made all the clothing rails and wall fixtures.

Bernie also held a raffle at the event which raised €285, there were 10 prizes all gifted by establishments on Dublin Street without having been asked which speaks to the community of the town.