Selfridges Opens Its Designer Studio Space: The Theatre of Forces
With selfie-sticks in every changing room.
Selfridges has unveiled its latest renovation: a Designer Studio space on the department store’s third floor that follows in the footsteps of other conceptual retailers in letting designers choose how they’d like to present their wares. The 17,200 square-foot space has been named The Theatre of Forces. Buying director Sebastian Manes cited the “flexible future of fashion” as a source of inspiration for the space, which allows customers to flit from Phillip Lim to Champion, OFF-WHITE to Craig Green, however one sees fit. Alongside headlining names and brands, the space also features up-and-coming labels; 29 of the space’s 67 brands are new to the retailer. Many of the retail spaces are set up on ‘architectural follies’ designed by creatives like Anna Lomax and Patternity and Gary Card, whose meteor-esque display currently houses KENZO pieces (see above).
The Theatre of Forces will house custom displays from brands like Vetements, who collaborated with art director on Patrick Waugh on a collage that is currently a work in progress; the conceptual French fashion house also borrowed clothes-racks from Selfridges’ back room in an extension of the brand’s DIY ethos.
Elsewhere, Asian retailer i.t. has curated a unisex collection of 150 tee and sweatshirt designs. The changing rooms feature selfie-friendly patterned curtains and each features its own selfie stick.
You can check a sampling of the space out above and make sure to go visit the space at Selfridges’ Oxford street location, if you happen to be in the neighborhood.
