Wimbledon Fashion Week returns with a bang — trade up your clothes here

Plus: A Wimbledon dad running the Richmond Marathon in honour of his late mother and Leukaemia Care

Sep 11, 2025

Good morning, Wimblers — how are we doing? I hope we’re all well and settling into autumn.

It’s a week of Tube strikes, and we want to hear your thoughts: How have you commuted? Have you been part of the pandemonium that is the Lime biking to work ? How have the disruptions affected you? Send your thoughts to zak@thewimble.com or comment below.

News snippets 📰

😋 A new supper club, Around Bee’s Table, is coming to YAYHOUSE in Wimbledon Chase. Belulah, the founder, has said that diners can expect “a vibrant menu bringing the flavours of Nigeria to Wimbledon paired with delicious wine from Wednesday’s Domaine”. Tickets are £35. Check out the poster below for details and a QR code to buy tickets, or click the link here.

🏢 Plans have been submitted to convert Wimbledon Bridge House into a “residential led development”. Constructed in 1989, the vacant office building was acquired by London Square earlier this year, according to their website.

❤️ A Wimbledon father is running the Richmond Marathon this weekend in memory of his late mother, Alison, and for the charity Leukaemia Care. 41-year-old Matthew Garman last ran a marathon in Hastings in 2008. But he’s putting on his trainers once more, and for a very important cause. Matthew said, “Running this marathon is about honouring my mum’s memory and the strength she showed throughout her illness. I lost my mum to CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia) 13 years ago, aged 59, and not a day goes by without me wishing she could have survived long enough to see her grandkids. Leukaemia meant it wasn't to be, and this event falls just three days after the anniversary of her passing.” If you can, please donate to Matthew’s cause here.

🙌 The Rotary Club of Morden — which just celebrated its 90th anniversary — held a very successful afternoon tea at the Old Rutlishians in Merton Park on Sunday 31 August in aid of Breast Cancer Now. The event raised over £950 — well done to all involved!

🏘 A Wimbledon property has made it onto Luxury London’s “Stunning homes for sale near London’s best schools” article. Click the link here to see the £1.4m pad in Crooked Billet, Wimbledon Village. And check out the other houses to see how SW19 compares.

**Marryat Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19**

My, my! This is an absolutely outrageous property. Set behind a deep driveway with off-street parking, this house (mini-mansion) has it all: a cinema, bar, eight bedrooms, double garage and landscaped gardens. There’s also a wine cellar — though after paying £9.5m for this place, I doubt I’ll be able to fill it with much more than tap water and reduced bottles of Vimto. Nonetheless, it’s a corker of a pad. Check out more photos on Rightmove.

The Wimble’s to-do list 🎉

🐯 Wimbledon Village Dress Up Day: A great day out in aid of charity? Sign me up! Now in its second year, this family event will feature the Wimbledon Village Stables Fancy Dress Ride as well as arts and crafts activities, face painting, a treasure trail and even a dog event. Arrive in your favourite fancy dress costume of choice and land yourself a rare Wimbledon Village badge. I’ve also heard rumours that there will be an award for the best-dressed dog. All money raised will go towards Wimbledon Guild. Click here to read about the day’s itinerary.

Where: Wimbledon Village

When: Saturday 13 September, 11am – 3pm

👗 Wimbledon Fashion Week: Wimbledon Fashion Week is well and truly underway (as you might have realised from our feature below). We have the clothes swap on Thursday, the fashion show on Friday, and then the Showrooms on Saturday and Sunday — an event featuring a curated selection of female designers and women-owned brands for you to peruse and buy. The events are all about sustainability (after all, it is Sustainable September). Click here to book spaces and buy tickets (though many of the events are free).

Where: Wimbledon Quarter

When: Thursday 11/Friday 12/Saturday 13/Sunday 14 (timings vary — check them out here)

🎨 Art exhibition — Mike Bernard: Artist Mike Bernard was born in Kent and trained at the West Surrey College of Art and Design. His paintings have been described as “a glorious use of mixed media, incorporating collage, acrylic and pastel”. Now, Wimbledon Fine Art is giving us the chance to see the award-winning artist’s work in person for a limited time in September. Visit Wimbledon Fine Art’s website for more details.

🏡 Open House Festival — Wimbledon Village Club & Lecture Hall: As part of the 2025 Open House Festival (check out the map of houses here), you are invited to explore the notable Wimbledon Village Club and Lecture Hall. The building was designed by Samuel Teulon in 1858, though many residents will know it as the Wimbledon Museum. The whole building will be open to explore, snoop around and admire, and there will also be drop-in guided tours. Click here for bookings and to see the programme.

Where: Wimbledon Village Club

When: Saturday 13 September to Sunday 14 September, 12 – 4pm

🎶 St John’s Friday Lunchtime Concert: We’re back with another delightful afternoon of music. This time, it’s Miriam Kramer (violin) and Nicholas Durcan (piano) performing Piazzolla's “Libertango” and “Oblivion”, Saint-Saëns's “The Carnival of the Animals”, Rachmaninov's “Adagio sostenuto”, Schumann's “Fantasiestücke” and Gershwin's “An American in Paris” (with their own exciting arrangements).

Where: St John’s, Spencer Hill

When: Friday 26 September, 1pm (doors open at 12.30pm for tea, cakes and coffee)

😋 Cookery, flour, bread, and free tastings at the Windmill: As part of the Mayor of London’s Community Weekend, the Windmill is hosting an event to celebrate all things flour. There will be cookery demonstrations, local flour for sale and some tasty samples to try. The event is entirely free.

Where: The Windmill, Wimbledon Common

When: Sunday 14 September, 11am/12.30pm/1.45pm/3pm

‘Fashion is supposed to be fun. It’s about self-expression, it’s empowering, and it can change your day’: In conversation with the mind behind Wimbledon Fashion Week 👠

Five years ago, Marina Sardanopoli founded Go Inspire, a community-interest company designed to empower women by creating community spaces and delivering wellbeing education. It offers markets in Wimbledon and Wandsworth where female entrepreneurs get the chance to showcase talents, and being a resourceful hub to connect like-minded women with the support that they need. But Marina’s achievements don’t stop there. She is also the founder and CEO of Wimbledon Fashion Week: six days of talks, workshops, fashion shows, clothes swaps, showrooms and more. But what is it like to be behind such a huge operation? I sat down with Marina in-between her busy schedule to find out.

Wimbledon Sustainable Fashion Week Catwalk Shows

The Wimble: Let’s start at the beginning. Where did the idea for Go Inspire come from?

Marina: I have always worked in fashion, whether that be as a producer or a manager. And I’ve always had this idea of doing something that is for women only. I had this side business selling vintage clothes in Notting Hill in Portobello Market, and I remember the women in the market, myself included, feeling so harassed by all the male sellers. And I just wanted to create something inspiring for women. I started Go Inspire in 2020 when the whole of the world was locked down. There seemed to be no community (and no hope) at the time, so I decided to create my own community — one that would lift the spirits of women and girls. First, I launched [it on] social media, and then we had our first in-person event on the 1st of July, 2021.

And how have the events evolved over the past four years?

We’re really focusing on markets right now. It seems like markets — especially those focusing on fashion — have really taken off in the past few years. But we’re also focusing on wellness activities too. We’ve been hosting these free walks where we take a group of women from the station to the common and back again. It’s all about fostering connections and making women feel safe. This year, the walks are in Wimbledon and Wandsworth, but we’re going to expand our reach to Richmond next year.

Sustainability is also at the heart of what you do. Was sustainability always a focus for you? If so, why?

For me, as a woman and a growing girl, I always had a unique body shape. I felt that regular clothes (the clothes you find in the commercial stores) didn’t really suit me or serve me well. It was through vintage and sustainable clothing that I found shapes, colours, materials and sizes that would sit on my body so well, body so well, which in turn helped me build my identity. This is also what led to me owning my own vintage clothes shop when I was just 21 (and this was before vintage was so popular). Now we’ve built this collective consciousness around sustainability and fashion. But at the beginning, it was just about finding the clothes that suited me.

The world of fast fashion has meant that we’ve forgotten that fashion is supposed to be fun. It’s about self-expression. It’s empowering. It has the power to change a person’s day, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.

Talk to me a little bit about Wimbledon Fashion Week. How has it changed over the last few years, and what are you most excited for this year?

When we did the first fashion show in 2022, we only had six weeks to organise it [laughs]. I think the first one is always the hardest, and we pulled it off! I like to think we brought such a cool vibe to Wimbledon with that first show — we had a textile artist as the headliner, which is sort of the pinnacle of fashion shows, right? Fashion meets art. This year is the first year that we’re doing the fashion show at night. It’s this Friday [12 September] and starts at 6pm, so that’s new to us. There will be six shows: four from fashion designers, one with the clothes from five different charity shops on the high street, and one with Elys. I think I’m probably the most excited for the show because it feels new this year. But really there is so much to look forward to. I always love the clothes swap. There are so many different ways to buy clothes in this world, but swapping clothes really brings the community together. I bring my five pieces, you bring your five pieces, and we form a connection. And imagine that with 100 people. People bring great stuff to clothes swaps because they know the item’s new owner is going to love, cherish and appreciate it. There are a lot of emotions involved in a clothes swap.

How have Wimbledon’s residents responded to this idea of sustainability and conscious fashion?

I think the people here care deeply about sustainable fashion. They really appreciate the effort and work that goes into each product. It can break a designer when, say, at a market no one appreciates your story or work. Here, people engage. They listen, and they chat and they care. We’re expanding Go Inspire in South West London because there’s a vibe to this part of the city — almost like a town.

I know you already have a million things to do, but what would you like to do next with Go Inspire?

I’d love for us to have our own space: somewhere where women can come to every day and feel safe and inspired. In my mind, I see this space having a café with vegan meals, events, studios for women to create their work in, talks, support groups, exhibitions and music. Everything, really! At our core, we want to be out there in the community celebrating women. That’s what it’s really all about.

Wimbledon Fashion Week is well underway. There is a clothes swap today at Wimbledon Quarter from 5–8pm (book here). Tomorrow, there is the fashion show from 6 to 9.30pm (book here for free). And on Saturday and Sunday there is the showroom weekender: a space to discover female designers and sustainable brands (book here for free).

Deal of the week 💰

In order to keep The Wimble free for all, we’re exploring running one ad in each of our editions. This is the first of many but do get in touch if you’re interested in advertising: zak@thewimble.com

This exclusive deal is only available until Sunday 14 September. If my experience is anything to go off — check out our article on Strong here — then it’s definitely worth the burn!

Question of the week 🔍

Last week, I asked you when the Wimbledon Library opened. The answer: 1887.

Q: Which of these bands has a member who hails from Wimbledon? Bonus point if you know the musician’s name.

You’re up to date 👋

Thank you for reading this week’s edition of The Wimble. I hope you enjoyed our interview with Marina. Do get yourself down to the fashion show this Friday and let us know your favourite moments! Other than that, have a great week and we’ll see you next Thursday.