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We’ve been talking about it for ages now and last night it finally arrived – the River Island Presents… T’s For The Trust Launch Party! The River Island design team created t-shirts for Pixie Lott, Kelly Rowland, Alesha Dixon and Kid British which are now being sold in River Island stores and online in aid of youth charity The Prince’s Trust. To celebrate our collaboration and the sale of the t-shirts we held the launch party in our River Island London flagship store. Read on to find out more and to see the photos…
We closed the Oxford Circus store at 4.30pm and our phenomenal Visual Merchandising team worked super speedily to transform the store. Get this – in just two hours the VM team managed to give the windows a T’s For The Trust revamp, roll out the purple carpet, setup the DJ booth, bar and stage, style loads of mannequins in the T’s For The Trust designs, and basically turn River Island into a venue fit for a serious party.
By 6.30 everyone’s hard work had more than paid off. The store looked amazing and final finishing touches were just being made as the champagne was poured and the canapés (mini burgers, fish & chips and hotdogs) arrived fresh from the kitchen.
At this point crowds started gathering outside the store as everyone wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Those who hung around got a treat when Alesha Dixon, Pixie Lott and Kid British took to the purple carpet wearing the T’s For The Trust designs and sent the paparazzi into a frenzy! The paparazzi were their usual cheeky selves and crept out of their pap pen to get that perfect shot, they were promptly moved by Team Style Insider though – we had live filming to do!
So onto the filming… our hostess with the mostess, Miss Ari, had the very tough job of interviewing the celebs and guests live on the purple carpet. We knew she’d do an amazing job but she absolutely blew us away! She racked up interviews with the T’s For The Trust celebs, the fashion press, representatives from The Prince’s Trust, celebrity guests and the River Island team for the live footage. Watch the video below so you can see a round-up of Ari doing what she does best, working the camera that is!
Kid British were next up once the interviews were complete and after a quick chat with Neev, the Manchester boys took to the stage and put on a 30 minute set for the party guests. They performed tracks from their album, “It Was This Or Football” and the crowd loved it. Job done for the Kid British boys who then, well deservedly so, got the chance to enjoy the party.
After Kid British’s set, Neev got back on the decks to keep the crowds happy. If the onstage dancing was anything to go by, Neev did her job well! The Moscow Mule cocktails were still in full flow and the party goers let their hair down until we literally had to kick them out! I think everyone forgot that it was actually a River Island store we were partying in…
… The morning after the night before and our sources tell us that operation “turn the party venue back into a store” was in full swing at 6am this morning! Bad times for the VM team as they had to get set for the T’s For The Trust designs being available to buy in store today. I’m sure they’ll agree it was worth it though – what. a. night.
For more from the River Island Presents… T’s For The Trust Launch Party, click here to view our event gallery.
You can also watch Ari's interviews with the stars of the campaign and the live stream from the event (if you missed it) by clicking here.
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