ME TOO: London’s department stores are joining forces to mark the centenary of women’s voting rights in the U.K. Harrods, Harvey Nichols — which has been re-branded Holly Nichols for the month of September — and Fortnum & Mason will be commemorating the suffrage movement through dedicated window displays that will be unveiled on Thursday.
The window displays will be presented in partnership with the British Fashion Council and are part of London’s #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign celebrating gender equality and the progress of women since they won the right to vote in 1918.
Each of the department store’s window displays will pay homage to the West End street protests of 1912, when suffragettes smashed department store windows to get their message across.
The three department stores’ displays will feature a design representative of the smashed windows. Harvey Nichols’ window will feature a shattered glass effect alongside a famous quote by Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the British Suffragette movement. Pankhurst’s great-granddaughter, Dr. Helen Pankhurst, will unveil the quote, “Deeds Not Words.”
A smashed window effect will also cover the Fortnum & Mason windows, and behind the glass, hampers will be on display to show the food and blankets that imprisoned suffragettes would receive from their loved ones.
Harrods Window Display
Courtesy Photo
The Harrods’ window will feature historic posters from the movement plastered onto a red brick backdrop, symbolizing the smashed windows. Footage of feminists, past and present, will also be playing on screens.
“We are extraordinarily proud to have played a small role in the story of the suffragettes and to be considered an iconic part of a city powered by amazing women,” said Amanda Hill, chief marketing and customer officer of Harrods.
Deborah Bee, group creative and marketing director of Harvey Nichols, said the store was happy “to pay tribute to those women who fought for rights that we almost take for granted today, and to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage.”