LIEF has its grand opening today, welcoming you through its door having taken permanent residency at the top of Afflecks Palace.

This amazing space oozing with individuality, filled to the brim with a variety of quality vintage and high street clothing and accessories.

Ran by Hannah Rebecca, who is not only a mother, an entrepreneur but also a singer.

Their Instagram page released an inspiring introduction. @shoplief

⭐️ “Who are LIEF? ⭐️

An estimated £140 million worth of clothing goes into landfills each year, and a staggering £30 billion worth of unused clothing is still sitting in our wardrobes nationwide.

This level of waste is enough to fill 459 Olympic-size swimming pools (Clothes Aid, 2013).

We cannot be kinder to the earth without the reduction of fast fashion, and lets be honest (especially on the run up to christmas) who doesn’t love to save money whilst their doing so?

This company is for conscious queens, bargain hunters, and fashion and vintage lovers alike. There’s something for everyone, all shapes and sizes, all styles and all ages. A treasure trove of timeless pieces. ♻️

So why ‘LIEF’ ❓

🌟With one half of my family living in Rotterdam, all vintage clothing will be stocked from both the beautiful Netherlands and our British archives! 🌟

LIEF is one of those words that can have many meanings. As a noun: ‘joy’ or ‘beloved’. As an adjective: ‘beloved’, ‘dear’, ‘kind’, ‘agreeable’ and even ‘cute’. All these words, however, don’t even get close to the warm, affectionate sense that Dutch LIEF has in the phrase: ‘ik vind je zo lief’ (I love you dearly).❤️

💓SWAP events💓

Every week we will be running a swap event, and hopefully the more we find our feet the more often we can host these – the end goal is every single day!

•Step 1•

Bring your old clothes, there will be rules on quality but this is not down to personal taste. Just your basic no rips, no stains etc! You can even bring plain old tees if they’re decent quality.

📜A maximum of 3 swaps per person will be in place to begin with, and the charge is £4 per item to swap or 3 for £10! 📜

This proves particularly helpful when swapping clothes for the seasons for example winter clothes for summer etc ✌🏼

A basic points system is in place for each item – i.e. 10 points for jackets, 8 points for jeans etc. 📒

•Step 2•

Spend your points in the store! Each item will have a cash price and a points price. For example, £8 or 8 points.

You do not have to spend your points on the day you receive them, any leftover will be recorded on your personal record card. Stock is replenished each week so you can return to get an outfit for that event at the end of the month!

•Step 3•

You have new clothes in return for your old! That jacket you’ve never worn, replaced for a new winter coat for pennies!

A Christmas present for a loved one, in return for your unwanted jeans.

If you believe in sustainable fashion, less waste and saving money whilst boycotting fast fashion – come and see us. We are on the third floor of Afflecks palace, sandwiched between the lovely Hoyden and Earth Friendly Rocker.

We literally cannot wait to show you all what we’ve been working so hard on, and have a good old chat up 💓”

Walking in to the shop I noticed the beautiful patterns, styles and quirky features.

The art work has been made by local artists.

A display wall of collectives of jewellery made by independent jewellers.

I caught up with Hannah on her launch day –

What’s it been like opening up during a pandemic ?

“We’ve been quarantining stock for 72 hours but we are closed Sunday so it’s worked out well”

Where did this all start?

“I used to swap clothes with my friends and I set up a swap shop event at Townhouse in Preston.”

What makes you different to other vintage ?

“American Vintage is really popular but we are aiming to be different by introducing Dutch vintage.”

What inspired you to do the points system?

“Someone once swapped me a school uniform – What could I do with that ? , I also once got swapped a tea towel. I thought if I introduce this point system it would mean people would swap equal items.”

Find out more about LIEF on Instagram and Facebook.

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