Clarks AW18 collection and Wonder of Wisdom campaign launch.

Friday 20th July.  I was delighted to be invited to the launch of the Clarks Kids AW18 collection and ‘Wonder of Wisdom’ campaign. This exciting event was hosted by Reggie Yates and was held at the Barbican in their stunning conservatory. Full of trees and plants, it proved a stunning venue for this event.  I hadn’t been to The Barbican for quite some time. Back in my late teens, I had attended The Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a Saturday student, albeit for only a year. As I approached the underground station, the memories of those days of commuting there from Bishops Stortford (where I then lived) came flooding back and instinctively I knew exactly where to go, despite it being over 20 years since I had last been there. As always, I’d left a bit of extra time in case of travel problems so this was a golden opportunity for a trip down memory lane. I soon found myself standing outside the sign, which hadn’t changed a bit and looking into the main door I’d walked through so many times.  The area really hasn’t changed at all and it brought back some strange feelings, that, as I get older, I find myself feeling more and more when I revisit places from such a different stage in my life. 

As I arrived at The Conservatory in The Barbican, people were milling about, chatting whilst drinks and canapés were being served. I didn’t realise at the time that the event would be live streamed on Instagram and a film crew were busy setting up, while a professional photographer took lots of pictures of the launch (once again I had lens envy as he had the 70-200 f2.8 I keep dreaming about owning! One day!).

We were asked to take our seats and the panellists were brought in. The wonderful Reggie Yates introduced a panel of inspirational people from all walks of life:

Dame Jane Goodall, the legend of Environmental Wonder;

Sergei Urban, The Experimental Dad teaching Wonder;

Jazmin Sawyers, the athlete who found her voice through Wonder; and

Aurelia Thierree, the artist from the circus creating Worlds of Wonder

Reggie Yates was an amazing host, he made everyone laugh from the very beginning. In came the panellists one by one, after a great and informative introduction about them all. I particularly enjoyed seeing a video representing Jane Goodall’s childhood, where she had dug up some earth worms and was sat looking at them, in her bed, under the sheet as a small child. As a mum to 3 boys myself, things like this ring so true, but sadly I can’t say I had the same “crack on” approach as Jane’s mum did! When my older boys decided to have snail races across the kitchen work top, I was not so accommodating!  It’s made me think about that differently now and I wonder if there is another approach to take with this curiosity?  I was also able to resonate with Sergei from The Dad Lab; he has two boys so I could relate to a lot of what he was saying. The topic of technology came up and it was interesting to think about how this can bring so much to our lives but also cause a lot of concern. For me this is a biggie and you’ll see from my blog posts and shares to my Where The Boys Are project blog, I often talk about my struggle with computers and devices which put a whole new dimension of stress on parenting these days

I left the event with lots on my mind and lots to think about. Added to this were the feelings that had been stirred up by being back in a place that had inspired me so much as a teenager.  Well done Clarks, for such an innovative idea for a campaign. The new shoes I saw looked great, with lots of new designs of school shoes which look so different to the ones that have adorned my boys’ feet in recent years; a smart, grown up look that will no doubt be kitting out the nation’s school children as they return to school in September. 

Till next time…..

Nina x

#WonderofWisdom

 

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