Elsie’s Story has launched its first Christmas jumper featuring a design chosen from more than 750 children’s competition entries and honouring Elsie Dot Stancombe’s dream of becoming a fashion designer.
The jumper features a wintry village scene drawn by seven-year-old Felicity, whose artwork perfectly captures the magic and community feel of Christmas.
For Elsie’s Story, the launch holds a special significance. The charity started in October 2024, by selling hoodies bearing its logo to friends and family. Now, that same spirit of support and kindness has helped make its first Christmas jumper a reality, with a design created by a little girl who shares Elsie’s ambition.
The project also builds on the charity’s recent grant to the KD Club in Liverpool which will enable them to provide 288 free places for young girls to attend fashion design workshops.
The team from Elsie’s Story and Kirsty Doyle, founder and CEO of the KD Club, worked together to review every competition entry and they were overwhelmed by the creativity and standard of the designs. Inspired by a trip to the Christmas markets with her family, Felicity’s artwork stood out for its beautiful, colourful design set against a starry night sky.
When Elsie’s Story contacted Felicity’s family to tell them she was the winner, they discovered that she, too, dreams of becoming a fashion designer and has a large sketchbook filled with her work.
Jenni Stancombe, Elsie’s mum and founder of Elsie’s Story, said:
“Elsie dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, so seeing so many children share their ideas and creativity with us has been incredibly special. Finding out that Felicity has that same dream made choosing her design feel even more meaningful.
“We started by selling Elsie’s Story hoodies to friends, so there is something really lovely about seeing how that small beginning has grown into this. This jumper brings together so much of what matters to us: children’s imaginations, the kindness of our community and creating smiles in Elsie’s name.”
Alongside Felicity’s winning design, the jumper includes a couple of extra details on the sleeve inspired by other competition entrants.
Kirsty Doyle, founder and CEO of the KD Club, said:
“We were blown away by the imagination and care that had gone into the entries. Every design deserved our attention, and choosing a winner was far from easy.
“Felicity’s design had such a lovely sense of community and Christmas joy. Hearing about her sketchbook and her hopes of becoming a fashion designer was wonderful. Giving girls the opportunity to explore that creativity is exactly why the workshops supported by Elsie’s Story matter so much.”
Felicity thought she was on her way to the dentist, but she was surprised by arriving at a photoshoot, where she saw her design on a Christmas jumper for the first time and modelled it alongside her friends and little brother.
Felicity’s mum, Jessica, said:
“We are so incredibly proud of Felicity. She has always dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, so to have her design chosen and see it brought to life on a jumper that everyone can wear and enjoy is just amazing.
“The fact that Elsie shared that same dream of becoming a fashion designer makes it all feel even more special and meaningful. We couldn’t be happier that Felicity’s design is going to be part of something so wonderful, especially for such an incredible charity.”
Photography took place at Yeti Studios in Liverpool, which generously provided its studio and the time and expertise of its entire team free of charge for the day. Elsie’s Story is hugely grateful to everyone at Yeti Studios for their kindness, guidance and support.
To celebrate the launch, Elsie’s Story will be at the ‘All Over the Shop’ Christmas event at Liverpool’s Metquarter on 21 November 2026, featuring fun photo shoots for families and fashion design workshops with Kirsty Doyle between 11am and 4pm. There will also be the opportunity to see many of the competition entries on display.
- For more about Elsie’s Story visit: Elsie’s Story
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