Balloons, circus memorabilia and candy-cane colours - plus plenty of Fenwick's trademark green - were on display this Thursday for the Newcastle store's 140-year birthday celebrations.
The city favourite marked its grand anniversary with the opening of a fashion exhibition, a collection of flamboyant circus costumes and a new-look Café 140. Its Fenwick 140 progamme's circus theme was echoed in the design on a new carpet running through the revamped first-floor café area and this Saturday that theme will spill out onto Northumberland Street with a performance of aerialists and acrobats.
Fenwick is out to celebrate its birthday in style and the launch of its new in-store attractions came on the morning it also announced a £40m investment in the 1882 building which over the next five years will include an upgrade to its facade, new entrances and a striking atrium in the heart of the store which will replace two of the elevators and rise between floors. The beauty salon also will be revamped and there are more plans yet to be announced.
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Getting the ball rolling is the new Café 140, occupying the space of the former Johann's café near ladieswear, which will be reinventing some classic dishes from the past. The adjacent new Exhibition 140 has - in place of the previous cafe tables and chairs - a display of beautiful dresses inspired by past-era fashions.
These are the work of Northumbria University fashion students who, having delved into the Fenwick archive, have created outfits capturing powerful elements of designs from over the years, with a nod to the likes of Suffragettes who were among the pioneering women who used the store and including a few with circus-like ruffles and frills. Kristen Pickering, senior lecturer at Northumbria School of Design, said the students had been experimental and boundary-pushing in their work to reference fashions from around 1890 to 1949 and she added: "They did a fantastic job."
At a preview on Thursday morning, Leo Fenwick, head of brand, explained the family story behind the chosen circus theme, telling how his relative Arthur Fenwick - son of the store founder - loved the circus, even leaving home as a young man to join one for a spell, and part of Exhibition 140 is a collection that reflects the exuberant spirit, showmanship and sense of fun that he brought to the company name. And that sense of fun also will play a part in upcoming store additions which have yet to be announced.
Circus costumes on show come from a collection of memorabilia his ancestor amassed which is now part of a store archive kept by Tyne and Wear Museums. They are temporarily back specially for the exhibition which also features very personal touches such as Arthur Fenwick's journal.
On the wall there are archive images, artwork and a fascinating timeline of events across Fenwick's long history and these too will remain on display throughout the year. The store's celebrations got under way on Wednesday, the actual day of the big birthday, with a private event attended by members of the Fenwick family and guests including the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Habib Rahman.
The Fenwick 140 programme also includes collaborations with top designers on new men and women's clothing collections and a podcast series.
The circus performances on Saturday will take place outside the store at 11am and then will move inside with more acts to follow at 1pm and 3pm.
