A flamboyant circus show for city shoppers will take centre stage at huge birthday celebrations to mark Fenwick's 140-year anniversary.
This Tuesday, Newcastle's flagship department store has announced a packed programme of birthday events which will showcase its long and proud history and embrace its reputation for eye-catching ideas and flair.
Fenwick, which has been out to seduce customers with a range of quality goods under one roof since 1882, marks its big birthday on Wednesday and will follow up with celebratory events including exclusive brand collaborations, exhibitions; archive collections and photographs plus the opening of a Café 140 serving nostalgic cakes and cream teas. And there will be plenty more to come.
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The Fenwick 140 birthday programme is inspired by both the store's founder John James Fenwick, who is said to have had a visionary ability to attire women for modern life, and his son Arthur Fenwick who had a passion for the daring and dazzle of circus and brought a unique spirit to the store.
A collaboration with fashion students from Northumbria University has resulted in Exhibition 140 - featuring their new bespoke creations alongside rarely-seen items from Fenwick's archives - which will have a press preview on Thursday, ahead of a launch on Saturday when the stand-out circus performance will also take place.
Top circus acts from around the UK and beyond, including an aerialist, hula-hooper and acrobats, will show off their skills outside the store at 11am and then will move inside to entertain shoppers with performances at 1pm and 3pm.
In celebration of the birthday there are also exclusive brand collaboration collections from designers and labels including Edeline Lee; Rixo; Paul Smith and Never Fully Dressed.
The Newcastle store is the original Fenwick - which over the years has dressed and worked with women from all walks of life, including film actresses, princesses, motorcar drivers and aviation pioneers - and its director Kieran McBride says its anniversary year "very exciting for us".
He said: "To mark the occasion, we have a fantastic line-up of spectacular events starting with a thrilling circus performance this Saturday, inspired by our founder’s son’s love of the circus, and all-new celebratory in-store experiences such as Café 140 and Exhibition 140 which explore our rich archive and showcase future talent through our work with Northumbria University.
"We will announce a series of further events in the coming weeks which we are incredibly excited to share with you all."
He added: "Fenwick has always been proud to be a big part of the community here in Newcastle and we can’t wait to welcome you all to join our celebrations.”
The cafe and exhibition - which after Saturday will remain open for the rest of the year - will both embrace old and new, with Café 140 serving brunch and lunch and contemporary dishes which draw inspiration from the store's history of hospitality and dining experiences and Exhibition 140 including pieces from the Fenwick archive alongside the students' clothing collection.
Members of the Fenwick team - head of brand Leo Fenwick; womenswear fashion buying manager Sue Shields and head of creative Paul Baptiste - mentored the students as they designed their collection which symbolises female empowerment.
Emma Goldsmith, senior lecturer at Northumbria University, said staff had felt privileged to work with the "meticulously preserved private family Fenwick archive" and that, after a prolonged period of learning online, "the BA Hons Fashion second year students thrived on working back in fashion studios and workshops".
She added: "The Fenwick story is absolutely fascinating and it has been a fantastic journey to date."
Also as part of Fenwick 140, the store will be launching a podcast series on Saturday called The Woman Who. Narrated by actress Zawe Ashton, it will celebrate women both past and present who embody female empowerment "through the circus of life".
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