Can you imagine being able to snoop around the archives for Britains most loved store, Marks and Spencer? As most Leeds residents will know Marksies started out from a market stall in Kirkgate Market in 1884 and soon grew throughout the north to have 36 Penny Bazaars and 12 High Street Shops. Fast forward 125 years and now the entire archive is coming to live permanently at the University of Leeds.
Yesterday Twiggy and Sir Stuart Rose formally opened the exhibition which is now open to US, the general public. Marks and Spencer in partnership with the University will be putting on series of events and seminars throughout the year, (you can find out more on the informative website) and the first on our radar is the Vintage Roadshow on Saturday 20th June. So dig out your M&S memorabilia (I bet you didn’t think you were saving your clothes as heirlooms did you? My greying bras wont be worth a great deal, but if Eric Knowles and Harry Sandon want to have a poke around who am I to argue!)
Seriously if you have any clothes, toys, aging perfumes, etc then do take them along, and anything considered to be of outstanding merit will be considered for inclusion in the M&S archive should their owners want to donate them to the collection.
The M&S Vintage Roadshow will also be supported by a team from Oxfam, who will be there to receive any M&S donations that visitors do not want to take home with them. Anyone making a donation to Oxfam via the M&S Clothing Exchange will be given a voucher entitling them to £5 off their next M&S clothing purchase of £35 or more.
It seems appropriate that Leeds, a city well known historically for it’s love of shopping is getting a museum archive dedicated to the pursuit.