On Saturday 14 February, the University of Kent celebrated its 60th anniversary with a fashion-forward trip down memory’s runway, revisiting iconic looks and sounds from the past six decades. This landmark event was delivered in partnership with Fenwick, who provided stylists, makeup artists, and clothing for over sixty students.
A catwalk presentation that included current brands, including Max Mara Weekend, Never Fully Dressed, Damson Madder, Paul Smith, Free People, Barbour, Billionaire Boys Club, North Face, Only, True Religion, Ed Hardy, Carhartt, and Ralph Lauren. These looks were supplemented with vintage pieces from Parky’s Pre-loved campus shop where purchases help to fund the Parkinsons’s Centre for Integrated Therapy (PCIT).
Alongside these established fashion houses, the event showcased the visionary work of emerging Kent student designers, nurtured through the Kent Business School ASPIRE initiative, offering a glimpse into the future of fashion. Makeup artists from both Fenwick and EKC Canterbury College brought each decade to life with period-perfect looks thoughtfully curated by decade including Chanel, Dior, MAC, Clinique, YSL, Lancôme, Guerlain and Charlotte Tilbury. Many of these Fenwick concessions took part in the afternoon foyer Fashion Fair rubbing shoulders with ASPIRE brands who had showcased their work on the catwalk.
‘For me, it wasn’t just a celebration of fantastic fashion, but a celebration of the creativity, courage and hard work of the founders.’ ASPIRE’s Rebecca Smith reflected on the platform the event provided for student entrepreneurs. ‘It takes a huge amount of effort to turn an idea into a business, and this event showed just how far our student entrepreneurs have come. In the marketplace their collections sparked genuine interest, conversations and sales, proving their ideas resonate with real audiences. Moments like this make us incredibly proud, because they show students not just imagining their futures, but actively building them — and doing so with talent, professionalism and ambition.’
Dr Ollie Double and Zaid Mahmood artfully hosted the event in the Gulbenkian’s Colyer Ferguson Hall. Modelling and performance was delivered by Kent Student’s Union’s People of Colour Arts Society (POCAS), K-Pop, Musical Theatre and DJ societies. School of Arts and Architecture students Fin Adams, Esme Foster and Caitlin Wydenback led the production’s performance direction.
Maria Barnfield, Store Director at Fenwick Canterbury, shared her enthusiasm:
‘This was such an incredible event for us at Fenwick Canterbury to be part of. Such talent in these students and such fun seeing it all come to life over the past month. It exceeded our expectations. Thank you to everyone involved—we had the best time and can’t wait for future projects together.’
Event Director, Sam Scott, reflected on the evening’s broader impact:
‘Threads & Legends delivered valuable impacts for students and our communities on many levels. Collaboration – young people from across the campus collaborated to create some real magic on the catwalk. Partnership -building a bold and inspirational partnership with Fenwick, centred on engaging students around culture that is meaningful for them. Opportunity -it is incredibly exciting to think about our ASPIRE entrepreneurs being offered their first opportunity to showcase their work in store with such an iconic brand. Awareness -demonstrating the unique campus-based community we are home to at University of Kent, a place of real welcome and belonging for everyone. And Fundraising, all proceeds from the event support our Opportunity and Sanctuary Funds, both breaking down barriers to accessing higher education.’
Threads & Legends was a celebration of creativity, collaboration, and community that honoured the University’s past while showcasing the brilliant future being shaped by Kent students today. Here’s to making it an annual event!