Selfridges Birmingham is heralding the dawn of a new decade with a digital summer campaign, featuring stunning installations from innovative artists.
Created by a group of leading digital-first creatives and image-makers, The New Order challenges how we interact with and consume fashion product and asks us to rethink the way we shop, both on and offline, establishing a wireframe for the future of fashion. The New Order is Selfridges’ latest collaboration with leading artists.
Since Selfridges first opened its doors in London in 1909, the department store has used window displays, visual merchandising and special in-store events to communicate with its customers. The New Order applies digital-first techniques to the physical elements that define fashion business as well as to the fashion categories of swimwear, denim, ready to wear, accessories and beauty.
Jon Emmony, the digital artist and creative director known for his surrealist, 3D-scanned compositions, has focused on swimwear. His short film features Prada muse Amanda Murphy and Japanese hip-hop artist KOHH, who are wearing this season’s most sought-after pieces, including this fabulous Seafolly active retro swimsuit, priced at £80, which is a print exclusive to Selfridges. Other available holiday pieces for women are this Jets by Jessika Allen, priced at £135, strapless bandeau suit and the Tommy Hilfiger one-shoulder seersucker swimsuit, at £86.
Men can emulate KOHH’s style with these Moorea watercolour turtle-print swim shorts from Vilebrequin, priced at £185 and Paul Smith striped swim shorts, at £120, as well as Ralph Lauren’s Traveller logo swim shorts, priced at £60.
Selfridges Head of Creation, Emma Kidd, says: “Fashion has always been about fantasy. But the digital realm has shifted the limits of fashion – we’re no longer constrained by what is humanly or materially possible. Limited only by our imaginations, we can forge new ideas and aesthetics, and present things in impossible contexts. Our new digital tools are causing a revolution in what fashion looks like, and what it can do for us.”
In September, Filip Custic, a Spanish-Croatian photographer who merges installation, photography, video and audio into new compositions only made possible by technology, will unveil his bespoke installation for accessories. The Madrid based multidisciplinary artist, Filip Custic, recently became an Instagram sensation, when the face filter he created was downloaded 12 million times in its first week.
The New Order’s third campaign for September will come from London-based stylist Jamie Maree Shipton and photographer Lusha Alic, who will present a unique take on denim as a collective.
Sam Watts, manager of Selfridges Birmingham, said: “One of the unique qualities of Selfridges is how we collaborate with artists and connect with the creative sector. The New Order is yet another exciting example of how we do things a little differently here, and I’m excited to host these collaborations over the coming weeks.”
The store is already a hub for the arts, hosting an annual Live + Loud festival in the summer, which celebrates the city’s diverse arts movement.