old kids on the block

Oh January, you’ve hit us hard. Albeit because we’re still reeling from The Best Christmas Ever™ but still, what are we to do with ourselves on these dreary days when everyone and everything (except the sky) is blue? Magpie-like, we’ve scoured our inboxes for any remaining sparkle and this, dear reader, popped out like the shining beacon it is. (How very thoughtful of our mid-party-season selves to have flagged it up, knowing it’s exactly the new year pick-me-up we’d be craving…)

Starting this month, Selfridges, in an exciting act of new year rebellion will be turning its annual Bright Young Things scheme on its head, and instead will celebrate a season of special events honouring one very cool bunch of Bright Old Things – artists, musicians, designers and entrepreneurs – who have all, in one way or another gone through a retirement renaissance, a total career change or an inspiring step into the unknown. Each participant, from their late forties to mid-eighties, will be given the chance to shine – with a dedicated window of the iconic Oxford Street store throughout January and February in which to spotlight their work. Some faces you’ll recognise more than others: Molly Parkin, one-time fashion editor at The Sunday Times, now a talented visual artist at the age of 82, is taking part, as is an architect-turned topiarist, a chartered accountant-turned-painter and a product designer who has become a YouTube sensation with his successful vlog, Earth News for Space.

Can’t teach an old dog new tricks? We beg to differ…