We can't stuff the turkey for you, or dress the tree but we can open our virtual Santa sack and let you in on what we'll be gifting our nearest and dearest this Christmas. It's been the weirdest, toughest year in living memory. We're almost at the finish line where we can hopefully all relax a little and look toward a better 2021 but we have to navigate the gift-giving season before we get there.
We're passionate small business supporters - a lot of whom have been hit really hard by Covid and its knock on effects. All our suggestions come from independent British brands with heart - brands whose founders we know and love or whose aesthetic, mission or methods we admire. We know the sheer joy that comes with giving a gift that genuinely delights and we love to double-down on that joy knowing our choices have supported a small business, often run by owner-founders who work incredibly hard.
We've been collating this list all year - from snuggly socks, to stand-out sweaters, to superstar hand bags, jewels to die for, PJs to make Christmas morning sparkle (natch) and stocking stuffers galore - we've got you covered for even the most flummoxing of foxes to buy for.
So, grab a cup of something warm or a glass of something cold and fizzy and read on to thaw your yuletide brain freeze.
Happy shopping!
Glam Fox
This Fox is party ready. Always. Just because parties - real ones - are currently off the table, it doesn't mean the Glam Fox in your life is not craving a bit of, well, dancing-on-the-tables glam. Our Camargue Discothéque Colleciton Dietrich silk PJs have more benefits than just their disco ball ready-beauty. These are party-worthy PJs if ever we've seen them. She'll love the cherry-red pair with a Cookie Mulberry Velvet evening bag (£155) from Mimi Berry. Or, she can dance the night away in her candy floss pink, gold horse print Dietrichs and a gold Cookie bag (£155). PJs and cookies - sounds like our kind of party.
Mimi Berry is a contemporary London accessories brand founded by Mimi, a Central St Martins graduate. The brand manufactures exclusively in the UK from the finest materials. We LOVE the Cookie bag but there's also a selection of beautiful everyday bags based on modern, utilitarian shapes as well as a range of smaller gifts like card holders and even dog collars.
Cosy-Lovin' Fox
This Fox LOVES the festive season. The staying in, the sofa time - that time between Christmas and the New Year when home turns into Rancho Relaxo and a lot of us pretend work does not exist and calories are neutral. The cosy-lovin' fox in your life likes nothing more than curling up with a good book (or a binge-worthy box set). She'll love anything that will make her inside time feel that little bit more special. We've got just the things.
As soon as we saw Blake LDN's La Vie En Rose Sweater (£335), we knew it would be on our list. A result of founder, Alice Ashby's collaboration with artist Laetitia Rouget of Shoopy Studio, this beauty is pre-order and hand-knitted in Peru, with many of the knitters women who knit at home to provide for their families. We love its slouchy fit and that it's made from 100% sustainably sourced wool. We also love Blake LND's philosophy - they want their garments to be building blocks for a circular life, producing beautiful things thoughtfully in only small runs of production to limit unwanted stock and waste.
Your cosy-lovin' Fox may also love a pair of our Cleo Cotton PJs (£120). These come in 7 colourways. They're made from "deadstock" luxury Italian shirting fabric that we saved from waste and we're donating £10 from the sale of each pair to Hestia, our charity partner. Give to give, indeed.
Tom Boy Fox
If you don't have a Tom Boy Fox in your life, you're missing out. They're the best kind of girl and they're why we always, always, always include a stripe in our collections, because most Tom Boys love them!
We created our Camargue Discothéque stripe with the Tom Boy Fox in mind. We imagine her in her blue and cherry red Evie silk PJ shirt with her well-worn denims on a night out (we will be allowed out again one day). We also think she'd love our striped Dietrich silk PJs. We're gifting our favourite Tom Boy stripes AND socks, adding a pair of Genevieve Sweeney's disco-worthy Sigi socks. At £20, these are affordable yet elevated stocking fillers. Genevieve is a British knitwear designer who takes slow, sustainable fashion seriously. For an extra treat - check out Genevieve’s knitwear - you’ll be book-marking it for birthdays.
An extra stocking filler comes in the form of a Sun.Day of London "Roof Top Garden" candle, £26. Inspired by the creator's very own London rooftop garden, created with aromatherapy grade pure essential oils and made entirely in the UK, its rich, earthy tones - herby scents of thyme and basil with the lingering floral touch of lavender and ylang-ylang and the vibrancy of Bergamot create fragrance that strikes the perfect non-girly note. Don't let anyone tell you a candle is a cop-out gift. If you make the effort to buy one with thought in a scent that you feel the receiver will love, they're something most foxes LOVE to receive.
This fox is not one for too much bold colour or print. She's the one whose wardrobe pillar is a classic white shirt and who always looks put together. We’ve paired our classic white cotton Cleo pyjamas with a couple of treats that are sure to appeal to her keen eye for quality. Gift the Cleo PJs with one of our fun monochrome sleep masks - this one's a tribute to Bob Seger's '76 classic. But in case Bob Seger isn't her thing and because we're all about the classics, we've got something for all 70s and 80s music aficionados, from Patti Smith to Rod Stewart and even ACDC, just in case your now classic fox was once less classic, more hard rock.
This is a brand with sustainability at its core - they use recycled gold and silver in all their pieces as well as ethically sourced gems. And if you don't see something you love, they're proud supporters of Circular Jewellery, encouraging their customers to recycle their un-worn gold jewellery via their ‘use your gold’ service where you can use your old jewellery to remake pieces - either a new design or one of theirs using your own gold. We think a Classic Fox will love their Soft Sculpture Collection - inspired by Soft Modernism, it's a collection of fluid, twisted shapes. We've chosen the Classic Choker Chain, £160, with the Fluid Twisted Pendant, £160 (comes with its own chain) and the Fluid Twisted Gold Ring, £145.
We're giving a beloved Classic Fox in our lives a Birdie Hall Alphabet brush pot (£40) for her desk. These beautiful little pots are prefect for pens and have become a modern classic. Make her initials, spell out her name or her favourite word (there's even a "?!" if she's more of a salty fox) - she'll thank you for beautifying her desk.
Girly Fox
The Fox in your life who's all about the pretty will love something feminine under the tree. The Geo Print Evie Silk PJs from our Camargue Discothéque Collection are just the ticket - with a classic soft pink and gold print the colourway appeals to the girliest of foxes. Or, gift her the cutest pair of our ivory Lola silk knickers.
If you're searching for something truly lovely to adorn her walls, look no further than Print~Sisters. Run by sisters Alexia and Claudia, who share a true passion and appreciation for authentic vintage textiles and artworks, they sell lovingly restored archive prints. Their archive dates from as early as the 1800’s and is one of the largest privately owned collections of textile design artworks. They have curated a rare collection of artworks celebrating unique craftsmanship throughout the decades. Each artwork has been reworked and revived and is limited to 50 editions per design, per colourway to honour the originality of each piece. Pictured here is Nouveau Blossoms, from £35.
Finally, possibly the most perfect girly stocking fillers we've ever seen are Tort's hair clips, barettes, combs, hair claws and headbands. We've chosen the Mimi Clip in Pink Sunset. Because, well, pink AND bling are the girly fox's friend.
We hope we've inspired you to shop small this Christmas and even if what we have highlighted doesn't float your festive boat, perhaps consider giving to our charity partner this Christmas. Hestia offer support to those suffering the trauma and effects of domestic abuse. The pandemic has driven the need for their services to alarming levels. Their Emergency Winter Refuge Appeal aims to raise £50,000 to keep their emergency refuge open over Christmas and support all those fleeing their homes.