This year sees the celebration of the John Lewis 150 Years Anniversary, and it very much feels that their department stores have always been part of my life. Childhood trips with Mum and Dad to our local branch, Jessops in Nottingham, meant (what felt like) interminably boring afternoons in carpet and furniture departments; a visit to the toy floor was the only highlight. A few years later, as a teenager and a keen dressmaker, the haberdashery department became somewhat of a second home. Then came the student and flat renting years when homemaking wasn’t high on the agenda but, oh boy, has John Lewis become a major part of my life again since becoming a homeowner.
With products ranging from household basics like coat hangers and baking trays, via exciting new products from up and coming young British designers to classic global design icons, trips to John Lewis are definitely no longer the endurance tests they were as a child. And since its humble start as a small haberdashery store on London’s Oxford Street in 1864, John Lewis has undergone its own quite extraordinary evolution and, true to form, is celebrating its 150 Years Anniversary in its own very special and innovative style.
To mark this milestone in their history, John Lewis have collaborated with some of their long-standing suppliers to create a collection of exclusive commemorative products, some of which incorporate special edition prints from the John Lewis archives which have been reimagined and reworked to produce fresh, contemporary pieces. But it’s not all about the past – there are also a whole range of designs and products from some of the newest designers around. I think it’s an exciting, inspiring and uplifting collection, celebrating the very best of British and international design past, present and future. As there are over 200 of these special John Lewis 150 Years products to choose from I had a really difficult time making my edit, but here are my absolute highlights:
Ercol Studio Couch in Cummersdale Limited Edition Archive Print
Ercol’s iconic Studio Couch was designed in 1946 and was the first sofa that could also be used as a day bed. In this exclusive collaboration, it’s been teamed with one of John Lewis’s archive textile prints, Cummersdale, which dates back to 1864 when the first shop opened. Ercol have only made 30 of these limited edition couches, which makes this a very special piece indeed.
John Lewis were given permission by the designer’s family to reproduce the Hans Wegner Venus Bench to mark a double anniversary: 100 years since Wegner’s birth and John Lewis’ 150 years of trading. The design, probably dating from 1948, features Wegner’s unmistakable curves and simplicity of construction, whilst the floating “shells” that form the seat and back are an example of his early experimentation with bent plywood, a highly innovative process at the time. Made from walnut veneer and solid oak, there is also a matching Venus chair available too as part of the 150 Year collection.
Above: Davey Lighting Zoe Factory Pendant in Aluminium. The handmade Zoe pendant, from heritage brand Davey, was originally designed in the 1930s for hanging in rows in spaces such as factories and offices.
Le Creuset has been making premium quality cast iron since 1925 at their foundry in northern France. This limited edition Le Creuset Coquelle Casserole, produced exclusively for John Lewis, is crafted in the style and shape of the original 1958 coquelle designed by ‘the Father of Industrial Design’ Raymond Loewy. I absolutely love its sleek lines and streamlined shape – the design of the lid and handle are particularly pleasing. Shown here in Volcanic orange/red, it’s also available in Teal. We have already have some Le Creuset cookware in both colours and this amazing casserole is definitely going on my birthday wish list … but which colour? That’s just too hard to decide …
Smeg, the Italian brand founded in 1948 and still family owned, are probably best known for their FAB range of retro style fridges, and here they’ve designed an exclusive version of their Smeg FAB28RD refrigerator featuring the John Lewis archive pattern Cummersdale again. The pattern was originally printed as a furnishing fabric but it definitely looks equally at home in the kitchen.
British company Newgate Clocks, who mix retro styling with modern timepiece technology, have produced special anniversary replicas of the clocks used in the original John Lewis Store store back in 1864. Only 150 of these Department Store Clocks have been produced, making each one limited and special. The model pictured above is the Stationery Limited Edition Clock, and there are also versions that would have been in the Haberdashery and Perfumery Departments too.
Next, two teapots that very much tell the stories of their times:
Left: The Charlotte Blue Teapot from Burleigh echoes the floral pattern popular in Victorian design. Established in 1851, Burleigh is a family business which is still manufacturing pure English earthenware products to this day from the company’s model Victorian Factory – Middleport Pottery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent
Right: My Teapot by Jansen+co, a contemporary Dutch table top design company based in Amsterdam. Founded by Anouk Jansen and Harm Magis in 2006 they describe their aesthetic as “unique, with innovative use of materials, technology and Dutch vision.” Their first ceramic range of colourful My Mugs was launched in 2010 and since then Jansen+co products have taken off around the world and are sold in design stores, museum stores, kitchen retailers, and department stores.
Left: Lucienne Day for John Lewis Lucienne Fabric in Forest
Right: Lucienne Day for John Lewis Panama Fabric in Stone
Iconic 20th century designers Lucienne and Robin Day, were design consultants to John Lewis from 1962 – 1987. Robin specialised in furniture design and Lucienne in textiles – these are two of several prints designed by her exclusively for John Lewis in the 1950s and 1970s. Both are 100% cotton and available to buy by the metre.
And to round off the edit, we move on from archive textile designs to modern patterns – here are some exclusive anniversary products from one of my favourite contemporary textile and surface pattern designers, MissPrint. The work of mother and daughter design duo Rebecca and Yvonne Drury takes its inspiration from the shapes found in nature, which they fuse with mid-century and Scandinavian sensibilities to produce their signature clean, contemporary and organic patterns.
Above: MissPrint Home Dandelion Mobile Duvet Cover and Pillowcase Set, Yellow
Below: MissPrint Home Muscat Rug in Duck Egg
I hope you’ve enjoyed the colourful beautiful things edit, and if this has whetted your appetite you can see the full John Lewis 150 Years Anniversary Collection on their website, where there’s also a timeline of the company’s history. And there’s also a book by Jonathan Glancey that tells the whole story of the vision of one John Spedan Lewis – A Very British Revolution: 150 Years of John Lewis. I’ll definitely be writing a few more posts on the subject too, as there are just so many fascinating nuggets of design and retail history that are part of the John Lewis story. Here’s to their next 150 years!
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