The thrill of a new pencil case doesn’t fade with age, finds Jo Rodgers, on a visit to Anya Hindmarch’s new stationery pop-up shop.
A yellow school bus, heading west on Pont Street in Chelsea, fills the shop window of Anya Hindmarch’s new pop-up at the intersection of Cadogan Lane. The corner venue is a constantly changing space that sits within Hindmarch’s ‘Village’ of five other permanent businesses along the same stretch of road, including a retro-looking café and a boutique specialising in organisational accessories and labelling. In the past, the concept shop has transformed into, among other things, a greengrocer, a hairdresser and a blazing holiday grotto, complete with Father Christmas at ease in an armchair.
Now until October 13, it’s a back-to-school stationery shop devoted to the Peanuts comic strip. The passengers in profile aboard the Pont Street bus are all Woodstocks, the iconic yellow bird and Snoopy confidante.
‘A Snoopy stationery store on steroids’: Anya Hindmarch’s pop-up shop, where visitors enter through a yellow bus to a high-low world of things designed to make them smile.
‘I remember when I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s,’ says Ms Hindmarch, best-known for her luxury handbags, ‘that Snoopy stationery was delicious little notepads, pencils, papers and stickers, all those sorts of fun things. Now, we’ve done a collaborative collection of gorgeous leather organisers, pencil cases and folios, mixed with merchandise we’ve collected from around the world.’
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It took about nine months of legwork to salt away the stock for a seven-week run. Some 20% of the items for sale is original pieces that Ms Hindmarch designed in collaboration with Peanuts Worldwide, including a red, doghouse-shaped coin purse topped with Snoopy and a yellow tote bag featuring the beagle at his typewriter. Ms Hindmarch’s favourite item is a leather pencil case that looks like Snoopy reclining — it zips up and around his snoozing snout. The remaining stock is a Smaug’s hoard of pre-existing international merchandise, sourced from the UK, US, France, Japan and Korea, such as bright Snoopy paperclips, Woodstock key fobs and notepads featuring hopeful Lucy and her unrequited love, Schroeder. A soft hairband from Korea has flapping black dog ears attached. ‘It’s a Snoopy stationery store on steroids, really,’ says Ms Hindmarch.
Inside, the shop has been designed to look like a 1950s, Charlie Brown-style schoolroom, with colourful children’s work tables topped with stationery, facing a wooden teacher’s desk. Bookshelves stand to one side, arranged with a panoply of Peanuts products, and a chalkboard is hung at the front of the ‘classroom’.
The intention is to offer goods at a wide price range that will appeal to both children and grown-ups. ‘We love the idea of high-low,’ says Ms Hindmarch. ‘A kid could come and buy a sticker book for not very much, but it’s been imported from Japan, which makes it a little richer and more interesting, and an adult could find a handmade pencil case that feels quite polished.’
She knows her market: at the time of writing, the shop’s website has pencil cases costing £295 and tote bags costing £700, to pick two examples. Both are already sold out. A 10cm Snoopy ruler, made from leather, is still available at £125.
The pop-up shop, referred to as The Village Hall, has become an in-the-know tourist destination since launching in 2021. The concept immediately preceding the Peanuts pop-up, an experimental ice-cream parlour with flavours such as Heinz Beanz and Kikkoman Soy Sauce, had queues down the block that required a roped-off section of the pavement, like a nightclub, to keep the walkways clear.
‘On one day, we probably had 200–300 people queuing,’ says Ms Hindmarch. ‘It was unbelievable. We have tourists from all over the world, as well as a lot of locals. I hope the Peanuts will have a similarly international, nostalgic appeal.’
Anya Hindmarch’s Anya Cafe.
Crucially, as with many Anya Hindmarch products — which often feature light-hearted details such as googly eyes and stuck-out tongues, or come emblazoned with kitschy logos such as KitKat and Kellogg’s Coco Pops — the Peanuts merchandise is fun and fun is the point for Ms Hindmarch.
Pont Street is probably the only place in town where, thanks to her, you can find a top-quality coin purse that looks like a can of Diet Coke.
‘I think luxury can become achingly boring and a bit worthy,’ says Ms Hindmarch. ‘I like things that make you smile.’
Visit www.anyahindmarch.com/blogs/experience/the-village
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