John Lewis launches anniversary exhibition

In celebration of its 150th anniversary, John Lewis have launched an interactive, 8,202-square foot exhibition at the Oxford Circus flagship that highlights the retailer's history. Also on display are specially commissioned items from British designers including Barbour, Hackett, LK Bennett and Alice Temperley. "It gives a real insight to what shopping over our 150 years has looked and felt like, and an opportunity for people to see a little bit more behind the John Lewis story," said Simon Fowler, the store’s managing director.

For the exhibition, John Lewis tapped students at The Royal College of Art to create what they consider to be the garments of the future, and the store is also launching Orla Kiely's men’s wear. Her debut, 19-piece collection takes its inspiration from "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and has a 1950s Mediterranean feel.

John Lewis' historian and archivist Judy Faraday said that as far back as the 1930s and particularly in the 1950s the retailer would regularly bring over exclusive designs from Paris, by Lanvin and other couture houses. “There was a degree of very high class trade as well as the more ordinary and more regular John Lewis merchandise,” she said.