In celebration of Youth

A new exhibition opens in our Fred Perry Shop in Camden in celebration of British youth culture and a yearlong tour of our shops with the Museum of Youth Culture.

Last week, we hosted friends and loyal customers in the shop. They were the first to see the exhibition and a panel talk with Lisa and Jamie from the museum, and Lava La Rue who talked about the importance of documentation and freedom of expression.

The exhibition is on for a year, and serves as a taster of what you might expect from the permanent Museum of Youth Culture space, which will open in October just around the corner.

Throughout 2024, the Museum of Youth Culture archivists went on tour and visited Fred Perry shops up and down the country to collect stories and stuff relating to our youth and shared subcultural histories.

People brought in photos, ticket stubs, ephemera and their fondest memories. From LJ’s Y2K Rave polaroids in Nottingham to Helen’s Goth youth in Leeds, the stories trace the nationwide reverberations of youth.

Announcing our tour started with the flyer; “Share Your Story of Youth and Be Part of History” it rang out. In return Leeds said; “How we gonna kick it?” The art of the flyer is to grab people’s attention and get your message across in a small amount of space. People brought along their favourite flyers from across the decades. Some declared newly opened clubs, now long lost; “It’s new, it’s exciting, it’s.............. Smileys” in 1960s Cardiff, whilst others alluded to events only recently passed.

“The tour really felt like us befriending a whole new group of people we wouldn't have been able to reach out to before, to be able to broaden the archive to be nationwide is something beyond special and imperative to what we’re trying to preserve.” Yeliz, Museum of Youth Culture Archivist

Other ephemera, paper-based objects that have stood the test of time - alluded to the wider grassroots music ecosystem. A scrap of paper declared; “Drummer & bassist required - sensitivity & taste as essential as ability to kick the fucking shit”. In Glasgow, Michelle brought along her BT Phonecards and talked about hours stood in a cold phonebox chatting with friends. Girl Power was honoured with stories from Hole and Spice Girls concerts.

Then there’s the photos left at the end of the tour, tucked away in photo albums and shoebox archives; of hazy nights out, of screaming along to your favourite lyrics or hanging out at house parties with your mates. Of lazing about and photo booth strips. Of lasting loves; “It was the 24th of August, 1985. I’d met a new boyfriend and he lived in Jersey, so I was getting these pictures to send to him.”

Over the course of the tour we scanned over a thousand items, spanning the 1940s to the present day - a real celebration of our shared culture. Some stories link across the generations; in Josiphina’s 1990s photo her teenage t-shirt proudly proclaims BRAT, sending frequencies to music culture of today.

The tour traversed the UK, stopping in Nottingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Brighton, Liverpool and London. Each city brought with it a new energy and new stories, building up a picture of how youth culture has shaped UK communities. As a museum, many of the collections have come directly from the people. Whether they have just one photo or their own personal archive, each tells an important story about being young in Britain.

Visit our Camden shop at 255 Camden High St, London NW1 7BU

View our opening times here.

Fred Perry has supported the Museum of Youth Culture for over ten years. You can find out more about the important work they do over at their website, and even become a founding member of the new site. https://www.museumofyouthculture.com/