Manchester’s dream-vintage-duo (Doll World), put a campy spin on sustainability in their chazza shop and handmade runways.
(Their next runway theme is revealed at the end of the article, keep on reading… :*).
It’s all about including people for their differences and empowering everyone – from the diva’s on the runway, to the ravers, to the kids in the charity shop.
First of all, tell us about yourself and your business.
Madeline (@doll.eyezz): “‘Doll World’ started with me managing the chazza shop (Barnado’s in Cheadle, Manchester). Charlie is a volunteer, but was actually a regular customer way before then. Charlie has been involved in all of the previous events, but it’s since the last one that we decided ‘OMG we need to do this together’. We are just the dream-duo in Manchester and our whole thing is about building opportunities in the north, having a creative scene and really pushing for change in the fashion industry”.
“What we do is all quite anti-fashion; it goes against normal rules on what runways, fashion week and fashion in general should be. All pieces that you see come from the charity shop and a lot of our volunteers help out- we hand-make all looks from things that we can’t sell in the shop, and we have the shop as a hub”.
Why is charity shopping important to you? How does it make you feel?
Madeline: “I’ve always been a chazza shop queen; I used to always go with my nan and have always shopped in charity shops. Obviously, I just love a good bargain me. Love one-off pieces, vintage, anything a bit crazy. Vintage fashion tends to be a bit wild.”
“When I graduated from the University of Salford with my FIMS degree (Fashion Image Making and Styling) I didn’t know what to do with my life or what fashion jobs I could get up north. I was on a horrific job hunt for months, and then a week before my tenancy ended for my student house, I got my new flat and my job at Barnado’s. At first I thought it’d just be a fun, chill job for the year, but has since turned out to be the most amazing fashion job ever. I get to meet so many interesting customers with interesting stories. I love my charity shop mum persona“.
Charlie (@charlie79463): “I think my relationship with charity shopping and my relationship with working for and with Maddy (doing these events, and volunteering at the charity shop) all comes from the same place of wanting to make ethical choices with all of your actions and having a love for fashion, but having that love for fashion being entirely surpassed by your desire to have a positive impact”.
“I’ve always been really into fashion, but have always tried to source everything second-hand. I think I was always a charity shop advocate from day one. I’d be constantly promoting ‘Oh, I got this from the charity shop’, ‘Don’t buy first-hand’. I think, as an extension, the runways have been able to broadcast this advocation, and highlight to even more people the glamour and the coolness and the desirability of DIY fashion and charity shops, and being involved in and passionate about your clothing in that way”.
Madeline: “And we’re also both vegan. Very sustainable queens“.
Charlie: “I think another thing that has brought me and Maddy together, and it’s evident in being a manager of the charity shop, is helping the volunteers out. She has a lot of DofE pupils and young teenagers who she gives a safe space to think about alternative ways of expressing themselves. To be surrounded by crazy clothes, with no judgement or fear. I think the events are the next step for that, in pushing people’s comfortability and feeling included in their differences. It’s all about including people for their differences and empowering everyone – from the diva’s on the runway, to the ravers, to the kids in the charity shop”.
When did the chazza shop runways begin?
Madeline: “Our first charity shop runway was actually around a year ago. I did one in the shop in July 2024. Not many people turned up, but I really loved it! I loved creating a runway and choreographing it. The second one I did was a Halloween one, which again was really good but not quite there yet. Then, the last one we did was just amazing. We are still constantly pushing and levelling up each time. I think this next one’s going to be on another scale”.
How do the charity shop runways work?
Madeline: “The things that we can’t sell in the shop, we make them into looks. We obviously cast Manchester-based models and creatives. I can’t really explain in words how they work as it kind of just falls together, but there’s a lot of crazy thought processes: planning, character profiles, scripts, music, collabs. So much goes into it. It’s so much more than putting a few looks together and holding it in a rave venue”.
Does having a creative community inspire the type of events you do? Or the way you run your shop?
Madeline: “We are constantly inspired by people around us, so the community we have built definitely inspires the events. Hearing such positive feedback makes me want to continue these events and make these things happen for the community, to build a safe space, as I keep saying, to give new people experiences. It’s super important, so it definitely inspires us”.
Tell us about your most recent runway event. What does ’80s disco diva’ mean to you?
Madeline: “Oh my gosh. I love the 80’s, everything about it. I really wanted it to be more theatrical than the previous Halloween one, as that was more just a showcase of looks. It needed a storyline, a plot, characters. I thought ‘Oh, game show! That’s perfect’. I love the idea of the runway being what was scored on the game show”.
Tell us about your next event.
Madeline: “As I previously said, we’re really levelling it up and taking it so much more seriously this time round for our next event on Thursday 5th June 2025. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still going to be camp and DIY, but it’s on a whole other level. The theme is 1920’s avant-garde murder mystery. we’ve got double the amount of looks, performance artists, guests, a plot… who will be murdered and who will be the murderer? It’s going to be super immersive which, again, we love because we want everyone to be involved”.
What do your creative processes look like? Talk us through your influences and your personal style.
Madeline: “The crazy ideas kind of just pop into my head and I roll with it. That’s kind of my way of being creative; rolling with all the crazy, manic ideas and trusting the process. My friends also inspire me, we all roll off each other. Me and Charlie, for example, know exactly what each other is thinking and we will go back and forth with new ideas, and they’ll build and build and build. It was actually one of my besties Katie who said to do a murder mystery for the next event, and she said this to me literally a day after the last one. I kept it in the back of my mind and spoke to Charlie and said ‘Ooh, I really want to do a murder mystery for the next event’ and she suggested it be 1920’s theme, and it kind of just spiralled after that. So I can only really thank my friends and the community around me for that, I suppose”.
“Again, I’d love to say I have one big style icon but I kind of just dress how I want and that’s really what has influenced me the most. Just not caring and putting pieces together because I like the pieces, not because they’re necessarily trendy or what people are wearing, you know what I mean? I think the shop probably influences my style the most because I see so many cool and interesting vintage pieces in every day and it inspires me. What my friends are wearing, Charlie is so talented and designs all her own t-shirts and that has really inspired me to get into graphics. My friend Kiki is super cute and cutesy, with trinkets and all of that, so that inspires me. It’s honestly just the people around me who influence my personal style and creative processes. I kind of just go with the crazy ideas and everyone around me helps me pull it off“.
Where do you see the chazza shop and Doll World in the future?
Madeline: “We hope to expand in the future, and as mentioned before we really want to make this next runway event more serious than the last. We want to build collections and a fashion brand from it”.
Obviously, I just love a good bargain me.
For tickets to their Murder Masquerade runway, click the link: https://ra.co/events/2150944?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAafa9Q4HQf8vQ9diVYUqY3qw-kXIZ2oqGUKjp-zUyiMY2hPKWvmcpNMKTik1pQ_aem_T6UoHVokeE9O7h_yJ7Yh_A
Instagram: @doll.world__ @doll.eyezz @charlie79463
Click the link or see below for Greta Downes’ review of the Met Gala 2025 and Black Dandyism: https://sleevemagazine.com/2025/05/11/subverting-the-subversive-at-the-met-gala/
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