The Yellow Brick Road

'Worn Again' windows on Oxford Street

The company’s commitment to sustainable retail will be achieved through its Reselfridges ecosystem, which comprises Resale, Rental, Repair, Refill, and Recycle services.

Activations across channels include the now permanent subscription and rent-to-buy programme which tap into the zeigeist for newness by rotation. The handbag-focused rental subscription sends out a new bag each month from a selection of hyper-curated designer profiles, both new and from the archive, with the option to purchase.

The store’s recent launch of “Worn Again”, a season of second hand and circular shopping experiences which runs from April to August this year, further supports the company’s commitment to sustainability.

The Edit 

The “Worn Again” campaign offers customers an array of collaborative events, products, and services across all its stores - London, Manchester, and Birmingham, as well as online at selfridges.com. The innovative programme aims to extend the life of products and increase the desirability of second hand and circular goods. Through this process, Selfridges hopes to demonstrate that sustainable shopping can be a desirable, engaging and enjoyable experience.

The Edit - Vintage Jewellery

In London, the iconic windows on Oxford Street have been transformed into showcases of circularity including recycled denim and vintage jewellery. In-store, Marine Serre hosts an atelier concept in the ‘Corner Shop’ which explores the brand’s forward-thinking approach to regeneration. Alongside antique objets d’art and the brand’s ss23 collection the space will also host workshops dedicated to regenerative design and creation.

Coachtopia

Coachtopia, a sub-brand of American fashion accessory company Coach, is also part of the ‘Worn Again’ experience on the ground floor. The interactive pop-up showcases the brand’s commitment to problem solving a more sustainable future immersed in circularity. To demonstrate its commitment to the subject, the brand has re-imagined its iconic 90s silhouette using recycled materials (zips and leather off-cuts) which are exclusively available in store.

The debut of a new second hand fashion and lifestyle destination, The Edit by Reselfridges, has also started to take shape on the lower ground floor. Pre-owned furniture online marketplace, Vinterior, has debuted its first physical pop-up through a carefully curated selection of desirable one-of-a-kind pieces from iconic brands like Ercol and Ligne Roset.

Still to come are The Swap Shop series (in all Selfridges stores through June and July) which will allow customers to trade in pre-loved styles for alternative second-hand fashions), Made to Order re-positioned as Made In Selfridges, an outdoor furniture fair, and a reimagined Stock Market in the Corner Shop, where items can be valued, traded, repaired, or upcycled through a bookable programme of upcycling services. 

The roll out of these campaigns puts Selfridges at the forefront of department store re-invention – a new world where circularity and consumer experience collide. Sustainability needs to be taken up by the masses to have an impact. Selfridges may be laying just one brick in the road but one thing is for certain, there is no looking back.

Words: Juliet Hutton-Squire