It’s what every charity wants Amazing sale in aid of Kilbryde Hospice
PAUL DRURY
Scotland’s fashion discount queen is mounting a clearance sale of her own – all in aid of an East Kilbride charity.
Vera Weisfeld amassed her considerable fortune building the retail chain ‘What Every Woman Wants’ into an icon of the British fashion industry.
She and her husband Gerald collected £50 million when they sold the business to Philip Green almost 30 years ago, in 1990.
Now, the businesswoman will empty her gilded display cabinets of valuable personal trinkets and paintings collected over a lifetime of luxury shopping.
That will see her put 150 of her favourite things under the hammer at McTears Works of Art Auction in Glasgow on Friday. And she is donating all proceeds from a special auction to the Kilbryde Hospice in East Kilbride.
The 81-year-old said: “I have supported the hospice since the early days of it being established.
“It takes people from my hometown of Coatbridge, so it’s rather personal to me. These items have almost all been bought by me over the years, whether at Harrods in London or art galleries in the south of France.
“I only struggled to let go of the bronze statuettes I’ve donated, but this gives someone else the chance to enjoy a nice piece, while helping the charity at the same time.”
The items in question include a bronze sculpture of Robert Burns, Scotland’s most famous poet, much admired by Vera.
Sitting 46cm high atop a marble base, the item has been given a ‘guide’ price range of £500-£800 when it goes up for sale on Friday.
There are two additional bronze statues of female nudes by the celebrated Italian artist Amadeo Fiorese, each estimated between £200 and £400.
The sheer potential scale of her donation left the chief executive of Kilbryde Hospice “stunned, to say the least.”
Gordon McHugh said: “She is a wonderful woman.
“When I saw the full list of items Vera was donating, it began to dawn on me just how much money could potentially be raised.
“It costs £7000 per day to run the hospice so the final auction total could keep this place going – on its own – for weeks.
“The whole thing has been quite overwhelming.”
It was during the 1970s that Vera and her husband Gerald forged their ‘What Every Woman Wants’ empire in Glasgow, churning out Ra-Ra skirts for just £1.
The chain won over a generation of women unable to afford the prices of more expensive fashion houses.
Mrs Weisfeld used her business eye to try to ensure everyone has a chance of snapping up something from the 150 items she has donated.
She explained: “My Christian Dior plates were bought as a set but I thought they would be too expensive if sold as a whole, which is why the collection has been split up.
“These things are part of my life. But I am 81 now and while they have given me pleasure, I will also be getting pleasure by giving them away.
“It’s great that, in the process, it may help the older generation of Lanarkshire.
“The Kilbryde Hospice does a wonderful job and I would encourage people to do anything they can to help them.”
Well-known Scottish artists feature prominently in the auction, with several graduates of the Glasgow School of Art represented.
Among them is the late Alan King, whose signed and framed “In my new striped trousers and red hat” has been given a guide price of between £600 and £800.
Fellow Art School graduate and official artist to the Tall Ships visit William Dobbie keeps things nautical with a portrait showing ‘The Waverley on the horizon’ at a guide of between £200 and £300.