Christmas Gift Guide

You know what they say; ‘A bottle of expensive olive oil is for Christmas, but a cool-looking knife is for life’. The ultimate festive gift for a foodie isn’t something they’re gonna munch down within minutes or weeks, but something that they’ll use every day in the kitchen. Which is why this everyday knife from Dalston-based Allday Goods is so perfect. Its rust-resistant blade is made by hand in Germany, while the pink-orange recycled plastic handle makes it look like a Fruit Salad chew (warning; do not put this into your mouth thinking it’s a sweetie). Use it to chop veg, poultry, fish and pretty much anything that isn’t bone, and do so with finesse, precision and flair. £90 might not be super cheap, but for a blade of this quality and class, anything under £100 is a serious deal.

Best for: Blokes who have a friend crush on What Willy Cook

Allday Goods, £90. Buy here. 

A look at clothes at their filthiest – full of high-fashion garbs that have been submerged in bogs, splashed with bodily fluids or simply left to decay – the Barbican’s Dirty Looks exhibition is a grimy hit. Get this souvenir anthology for your friend that really knows (or wants to get to know) fashion. It’s packed with gorg photography and essays by a bunch of activists and intellectuals, covering everything from feminist resistance to decolonial critique to fashion’s environmental cost. 

Best for: The Rick Owens acolyte in your life

The Barbican Shop, £30. Buy here.

A lot of travel journals out there are a bit naff and impractical. But not the beautiful collection from London-based stationery company Papier. There are seven designs to choose from, but our favourite is the forest green and baby pink ‘Off Piste’, which has a closer resemblance to a Murakami hardback than a journal. And for those who still like to plan their travels by hand, it’s actually very useful The first few pages are dedicated to a ‘travel wishlist’ and ‘trip ideas’ for planning out your wildest dream destinations for the year ahead, then there’s a section where you can scribble out your plans, and finally there’s the actual journal bit, with loads of space to write about your experiences, including a scrapbooking section for keepsakes. The back pages have fun little travel games, including wordsearches and airport bingo, and there’s a full world map designed to be coloured in for each place you visit. Best of all? Personalisation is included in the price. Practical, personal and beautiful, it ticks every box for your favourite jet-setter.

Best for: BookTokers who like to romanticise their life

Papier, £29. Buy here. 

As a Bond fan, I’ll be dishing out a few of these adorable 007 eggcups to pals this Christmas. If you want to stay true to the source material, Ian Fleming’s iconic spy liked his eggs boiled for precisely 3 minutes and 20 seconds – but whether you like your eggs hard-boiled or runnier than that parkour scene in Casino Royale, these hand-painted 007 cups will bring a touch of movie iconography to your brekkie table. Designed by Danish design company Lucie Kaas, they’re a Scandi spin on a London legend. Available in white and black dinner jackets.

Best for: Retired dads who enjoy a good war film

The 007 Store, £19. Buy here.

Known for its minimalist and transparent designs, Nothing first burst onto the scene with its stand-out cyberpunk-y phones back in 2022. The British electronics company’s equally recognisable Headphones (1) come made of sturdy aluminium paired with a soft ergonomic fit and provide 80 hours of noise-cancelling listening. The app allows you to tune everything with their advanced equaliser feature, from the bass to the ‘transparency’ of the noise cancellation, for when you want to have music playing but stay aware of your surroundings. All that aside, they just look bloody cool, and like nothing else on the headphone market.

Best for: Audiophiles who dress in head-to-toe END Clothing

Nothing, £199. Buy here.

Hydration, but make it fashion. Your most stylish acquaintance will already be aware of Chopova Lowena, a young London label known for putting a Bulgarian folk spin on sportswear, and for its signature carabiner skirts worn by the likes of Charli xcx, Madonna and Fontaines D.C. Those cult kilts are beyond most  price ranges, but you could get your pal a water bottle that featured in Chopova Lowena’s SS26 show instead. Close enough. CL’s collaboration with Chilly’s was part of its ‘Cheerlore’ show at the most recent London Fashion Week, and is etched with a punky, chaotic crowd of CL mascots and doodles – flying pigs, hula-hooping Victorian girls, weird little bugs, etc. 

Best for: Run club girlies who shop at Dover Street Market

Chilly’s, £95. Buy here. 

If your sister is adamant that her darling toddler won’t so much as look in the general direction of a screen until they turn 21, the V&A’s delightful array of what we’re going to affectionally deem ‘Victorian-style’ kids’ toys are a great shout. For wholesome, ethical, plastic-free gift for a toddler, then look no further than these lovely wooden pull-along toys. Both are made using sustainable wood and with non-toxic dyes, lacquered with natural resin, so your little neice or nephew can gnaw on them to their heart’s content. 

Best for: The offspring of your hippiest childhood friend

The V&A Shop, from £25. Buy here. 

You’ll find no snazzier sunnies in all of London than this collab from chic record store, bottle shop and music venue Next Door Records and eyewear brand Sub Sun. Not only do these pieces of unisex eyewear look sick, with their dashing rust orange lenses, sort-of-hexagonal frames and dapper hand-finish, they’re properly hardy: the sunglasses are cut from Mazzucchelli acetate with scratch resistant lenses. And even better (in case the look alone doesn’t persuade you, which it should) the glasses are for a good cause. Founded by DJ Bradley Zero and Tom Leuchars, Sub Sun raises funds to support grassroots music venues and independent artists. Perfect for the club, gigs, or even going outside in the sunshine.

Best for: Your mate who’s always front left at Gala festival

Next Door Records, £135. Buy here. 

Until they decide to release a tiny brick version of Bill & Ted’s garage or that fortune-teller machine from Big, this brand new Goonies set could be the most joyfully nostalgic LEGO movie tie-in yet – especially for children of the ’80s. Speaking as one of those, I’m sticking it straight onto Santa’s list – I’ll give it to my kid but we will 100% be ‘collaborating’ on putting it together. All the little details spark a tonne of joy – not least because the kit was unveiled by Data himself, Oscar-winning comeback kid Ke Huy Quan, and boasts a tonne of a fun gizmos and booby traps his gadget-obsessed character would be proud to put his name to. It’s the whole plot of The Goonies squeezed into nearly 3000 bricks: Mikey, Mouth, Chunk and Data, the Fratellis’ hideaway and One-Eyes Willy’s treasure room. Catch the movie at the Prince Charles Cinema at Christmas, then go home and recreate it with your kids. Or, you know, solo. They don’t need to know. 

Best for: Wholesome young Walthamstow families

Lego, £269.99. Buy here.

I actually don’t know why this is called a ‘trucker’s cap’ as I was almost 100 percent sure a trucker’s cap was something completely different. Whatever. Percival, a proper London business with a design studio based in the capital, have knocked it out of the park with this exceptionally well-made, beautifully embroidered bad boy. Martini – the drink of the moment today, tomorrow and forever – is proudly emblazoned on its front, a reminder of life’s louche side. This thing is entirely made from cotton and is part of their autumn/winter drop, so don’t dilly dally if you do fancy one.

Best for: Men who have a subscription to Monocle

Percival, £45. Buy here. 

Everyone needs hand lotion, but we are sooo over forking out £60 for a bottle of Aesop when there are more affordable and unique options available. Instead, give your Real Housewives of Clapton-following loved one this alternative from London’s very own Goodhood. Formulated in Frome, Somerset, this fresh and floral lotion blends notes or rose and freshly squeezed geranium. Its name, Yogogi, is inspired by the neighbourhood of the same name in Tokyo. It comes in a pretty amber glass bottle that can proudly be displayed on any sink. 

Best for: The woman who says Santal 33 is ‘basic now’

Goodhood, £22. Buy here.

This might sound horrifying to anyone over the age of 35, but the skinny scarves and fingerless gloves of the noughties are back in style, as evidenced by this adorable striped set from London-based brand Peachy Den. The two-part set comprises a blue striped scarf, with a matching pair of mittens, crafted from a soft and warm wool blend.

The mittens button onto the scarf, which is perfect for anyone with a tendency to leave things on the tube. But even better is that this gift is guaranteed to win you kudos with any Gen Z recipient. Peachy Den is a huge hit on social media, and is beloved by London It Girls like Amelia Dimoldenberg, Olivia Dean and Dua Lipa. 

Best for: Hot girls who have a favourite Vogue columnist

Peachy Den, £65. Buy here.

Your Mubi Go-subscribing boyfriend is going to love this t-shirt from SCRT, a Hackney-based brand known for selling limited collections of unique print-based clothing. Sitting firmly in the intersection between nerdy and cool, the ‘Objects’ tee features a fun design of some post modern-looking primary-coloured chairs. But that’s not all. Look closer and you will see that each chair is actually from a different sci-fi movie. Designs include the Omni Swivel Chair from Alien’s Weyland corp and the Jacobsen Egg Chair from the Men in Black HQ. Printed on thick, white cotton, you can’t go wrong with this high-quality garm. 

Best for: Lads who update their Letterboxd religiously

SCRT, £55. Buy here.

There’s nothing better than a gift that smells really, really great. And there’s more to Vyrao’s unisex fragrances than just delicious aromas and beautiful bottles. It might sound a bit woo-woo to some, but the London-based perfumier bills its eau de parfums as ‘neuroscents’ – fragrances that are designed to complement or alter your mood – which it says are created by science-backed natural ingredients. Whether you’re into that kind of stuff or not, there’s no denying that they smell delicious. And if you’re not totally confident picking out a fragrance for another person, this travel set gives five different options. They can be worn alone, or layered together for a unique touch. 

Best for: Your girlfriend who’s really into crystals

Vyrao, £90. Buy here.

If there’s someone in your life who is still stuffing underwear into shoes to save space in their suitcase, do them a favour. Get them some packing cubes. They actually work: you can pack way more than you thought, and you can organise it all nicely, making going on a trip (particularly when you’re hopping from place to place) way less stressful. These compression cubes from London-based luggage makers Antler, while pricey, are the best on the market. Sure, you can get cheaper packing cubes, but the double compression zips really do the business. 

Best for: Your cousin who absolutely refuses to pay extra for hold luggage

Antler, £50. Buy here. 

Venerable toyshop Hamleys releases an annual list of what it expects the year’s most in demand toy to be each Christmas, and this year it was topped by the humble Ty Beanie Bouncer. They’re basically a version of the popular Ty Beanie Babies stuffed animals toys, except they’re ball shaped and they bounce (duh). It’s being billed as part of shift back towards soft toys and away from electronics and gizmos, and while it must surely be pointed out that it’s entirely in Hamleys’ power to self-dictate what the toy of the season is – its front windows are entirely given over to the little bouncing varmints – it’s hard to begrudge the patronage of a relatively modest toy, which will set you back less than the price of a London pint (quintessential stocking filler territory, this).

Best for: Primary school-aged godchildren

Hamleys, from £7. Buy here. 

You can’t just buy someone a computer. They’re really expensive, for a start. But what if there was a computer that was small and also cheap? Created by UK-based tech company Raspberry Pi, this here computer is so small it’s been housed inside a keyboard. It runs on the Linux privacy-respecting operating system, which is perfect for anyone interested in coding or programming, as well as your the off-grid paranoiac in your life. And its ultra compact size makes it ideal for moving from your office monitor to your living room TV, or chucked in your bag and taken anywhere. The mechanical keyboard itself feels great to use, and the programmable LEDs should be the first thing you play with when you plug it in. You can turn it into a home media centre, a retro game emulator, or even run your own cloud-based LLMs; the possibilities for nerdy tinkering feel endless. 

Best for: Geeky younger brothers who actually know what an LLM is

Raspberry Pi, from £192. Buy here. 

Chart-topping young garage revivalist remains the undisputed queen of fun, tongue-in-cheek merch – her playing cards featured in our 2023 gift guide. Part of a collection of homeware bits reminiscent of the naff commemorative china your nan buys every time there’s another royal wedding, this classic white earthenware mug is a delightfully cheeky gift for anyone who’s spent the year obsessed with ‘Stateside’.

Best for: Your Gen Z cousin who’s always trying to teach you TikTok dances

PinkPantheress, £14.99. Buy here.