A t-shirt designed to look like the spider brooch worn by Lady Hale at the Supreme Court on Tuesday has sold out in less than 24 hours.
Balcony Shirts, a business based in Boris Johnson’s constituency of Uxbridge, replicated the outfit worn by Lady Hale when she delivered her unlawful verdict earlier this week.
The business decided that they wanted to capture the popular enthusiasm for Lady Hale and raise some money for charity in the process.
Their t-shirts, which went on sale on eBay, cost £10 and would donate 30% of the proceeds to housing and homelessness charity, Shelter.
The item proved immensely popular and sold out in less than 24 hours.
The brand owner, Scott, announced on Twitter they’d had to stop taking orders at 6,500 units because they were worried about not fulfilling the demand.
That number of sales means they have raised a projected £18,000 for Shelter.
He said: “We often print topical t-shirts, and as everyone on Twitter was talking about the brooch we thought it was a great angle for a new design. We can’t believe it’s taken off quite the way it has.
“We picked Shelter as homelessness appears to be a growing problem in Uxbridge, and it’s nice to do our part.”
Balcony Shirts also warned customers that there were lots of imitation shirts popping up online, and although they didn’t mind customers shopping elsewhere they should be wary of the donation.
They tweeted: “Please buy the one with the official eBay charity donation. Not ones that just ‘say’ they’ll donate.”
Shelter tweeted: “Thank you so much to the kind balcony shirts. They’re raising money for Shelter to fight homelessness with their very topical t-shirt!🕷”
Customers on Twitter have praised Balcony Shirts for their efforts. One said: “Great stuff. I ordered one for my solicitor wife.”
Another said: “Great work for a great charity. Hope you’re able to start selling again soon. I want to get some for presents :)”
And another added: “Fuck me, that’s amazing. I hope you can get enough t-shirts in in good time. Well done.”