In the 11 years since Choose Love began, it’s grown from a donation-raising social media hashtag to one of Europe’s most prominent and celebrated humanitarian aid organisations. In the past decade, it’s delivered vital supplies to more than nine million migrants and refugees in over 50 countries, and turned its titular message – which is proudly displayed on T-shirts designed by political fashion designer Katharine Hamnett and championed by public figures from Nicola Coughlan to Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jude Law – into a movement. Now, it’s opening its first summer pop-up shop following the success of its winter store, which ran in November and December last year.
The summer pop-up runs until June 28 in a Borough Yards space designed by Misty Buckley, who’s behind the sets for the last four Oscars and the 2026 Brit Awards. There, you can buy caps, T-shirts and other pieces from an all-new range of merch designed by Hamnett, while also paying it forward: with the climate crisis making the summer months even hotter and more unbearable for many displaced people, the summer shop will sell supplies and summer essentials from clean water and safe shelter to sunscreen and sunglasses that customers can purchase for vital distribution.
“Our [charity] partners tell us that in the summer, they see lots more people taking journeys, trying to seek safety,” writer, presenter and Choose Love co-founder Dawn O’Porter tells Broadsheet. “They tell us that displaced people, including children, are living in overcrowded conditions in tents that can reach as high as 50 degrees, often without proper access to sun protection, shade from the sun, or ways to keep cool. Children are out of schools in summer, and too often they are in scorching hot refugee camps with nothing to do.”
Choose Love’s partners aim to reduce the “scorching heat”, providing wash facilities, nutritious food and clean water. They set up in shady areas to provide sun protection, and support search and rescue efforts for those attempting sea crossings. “Everything you buy in the shop will go directly to supporting their work, in regions including Greece, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, Middle East, here in the UK and more,” O’Porter says.
There’ll be a flurry of activity going on in the Choose Love shop over the coming weeks, too. O’Porter hints that people can expect a host of “close friends” and famous faces to swing by as well as “DJ sets [and] surprise moments” – Coldplay’s Chris Martin played a surprise set during the winter pop-up – and O’Porter herself sometimes manning the tills. The Choose Love community, she says, represents “the best of humanity”.
“The division and polarisation we’re seeing now is really frightening, and makes the message of Choose Love more important than ever,” O’Porter says. “It’s about seeing everyone as human beings, and treating every person with love, dignity, respect and compassion. With the rise of the far right, we can’t be complacent, and we have to stand up for what we believe in. If you want to live in a world that welcomes and supports refugees, then please do get involved.”
Choose Love’s summer pop-up runs until June 28.
Choose Love
Borough Yards, Stoney Street, SE1 9AD
Hours
Mon to Sat 10am–6pm
Sun midday–6pm
