A clothing boutique in southern England has put dresses worn by Hollywood royalty up for auction in aid of the UN's High Comissioner for Refugees.
Stil Lifestyle, in Sussex, has pledged more than a dozen items that were previously worn by silver screen luminaries such as Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Sienna Miller, Jessica Chastain, Helen Mirren, Rebel Wilson and Amanda Seyfried.
Sulaika Weihs, the boutique's owner, says she was inspired to act over her concern for displaced people, whose plight she described as an "ever-growing" crisis.
Many of the items have already sold out on her website, potentially raising more than £10,000 ($11,968) for the UNHCR.
Cate Blanchett, who is a UNHCR goodwill ambassador, previously donated gowns from her personal archive to Stil Lifestyle in 2020, in another auction to help raise funds for the UN refugee body.
Ms Weihs said that this time around she was determined that her online auction would be even bigger than the last.
"What is lovely with this form of sale is that not only does it raise much -needed funds, but it ensures that the clothes are re-worn and it gives women all over the world a chance to own a piece of clothing from a favourite global icon while helping others.
"The way to thank those who have donated for their generosity is to raise as much as possible for UK for UNHCR."
"The sale will offer an opportunity for the fans of these iconic women to own a cherished item while supporting the charity", she told the UNHCR's official website.
The UNHCR helps millions of the world's most vulnerable people and has recently called for more aid to assist programmes in the Horn of Africa.
Today in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, more than eight million people require food assistance and about 332,000 “urgently need food, otherwise their lives are at risk”, said UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado.
In an appeal for $137 million to maintain vital humanitarian programmes this year, UNHCR said that well over three million refugees and internally displaced people have already been forced to leave their homes in the region.
