July 3, 2019 |
What happens when the worlds of retail and e-tail collide? Something pretty fabulous looking, if the brand new Selfridges project is anything to go by. Instead of avoiding the online era we’re living in, the cult British department tore decided to ride the wave and combine the experiences of digital and physical shopping. With the SS20 season, fashion has entered a new decade, and the creative team at Selfridges are here to confirm – the future is now. For their new seasonal makeover, the department store is turning to the New Order – a group of five digital-first artists who are bringing their innovation to visuals to the vast halls of the 110-years-old institution.
First of all, the store windows. A walk by 400 Oxford Street has been part of the unofficial fashion schedule for decades. With yellow flags waving in the air, the large glass boxes showed a new creative concept which was a reflection of what we will be shopping for in the months to come. This summer, the narrative is less about actual mannequins in scenarios, and more about surrealist, 3D-scanned compositions on screens. Inside the stores, the story continues with a monumental installation by artist Jon Emmony in the central atrium that scales throughout five floors. But don’t forget your phone – you can only experience the artwork through the screen of your device. Joining Emmony on the New Order are Digi Gals, Filip Custic, Ines Alpha and Jamie-Maree Shipton, each bringing their own expertise to the space. The interactive aspect doesn’t stop inside the stores though – Alpha was in charge of creating make-up filters for Snapchat and 3D digital make-up.
The New Order is kicking off with imagery of Selfridges’ best swimwear picks. Instead of the sandy dunes of Ibiza, the trunks and bikinis are modelled in Jon Emmony-designed surreal settings of sets that look like Bruce Willis will be running around there looking for the Fifth Element. And there she is, the reincarnation of Leeloo – her wet orange highlighter bob intact – showing off her Lisa Marie Fernandez metallic black lycra two-piece. If only we could equally experience the splash of a swimming pool and the heat of the sun remotely too. Could we work on that next, Selfridges? Ten Towers would be eternally grateful.
Elements of The New Order creative campaign will be dropping at Selfridges until October 2019.
