I was out & about in Oxford St the other day and decided to stop by the new Miss Selfridge store as I’d heard it’s had a bit of a redesign. That turned out to be an understatement; it’s been transformed into some unrecogniseable from its former self. If anyone who’s been there knows, it used to feel claustrophobic, hard to navigate and generally a bit inspirational; something that was essentially a jumped-up entrance hall into the Topshop Flagship. Well; no more. Miss Selfridge has decided to make its mark in its own right, with a complete redesign, and it’s been massively transformed.
I didn’t take any photos while I was there but there’s a few I’ve borrowed from the wonderful House of Halcyon blog. I’m planning to go back at some point and take some better ones. The redesign has been cleverly coincided with the launch of the SS2012 Designed By… Collection, with the print designs on the range complementing the in-store designs and POS. It really is very well thought through and I love it.
Miss Selfridge creative director Tim Whitmore says, “We’ve been looking at all areas of in-store design for about 18 months.” They employed Belgian design consultant Creneau International to handle the first stage of creating the new concept last year, then it took further development in-house.
Whitmore says that the starting point for the project is “the stock is hero. Everything that we’ve done in the redesign is a canvas for the clothing.”
The 558m2 store will be the first to display a new logo, with the colour changed from red to pink, in edge-lit acrylic signage.
In-store the redesign features new display equipment, a “lifestyle” accessory area, wall displays and “video pods”, designed and manufactured by Kunick Leisure. This will enable shoppers to have an Mpeg (compressed digital movie file) of themselves produced that can be sent on a Miss Selfridge, headed e-mail to six friends:
I love the Cyan/Magenta (in fact I think it’s more of a spot neon than a print magenta, it’s so bright on the POS) solid type with the mirrored floral print. Mirrored and clashing prints are huge for SS12 as we know so it’s great that they’ve reflected this in the design, while still letting the collection speak for itself.
Canvases propped against high level shelves around the store display the press shots as well as repeating print patterns.
Oversized swing tags on foam board at the end of every rail of the Designed By collection really grab your attention. The swing tags on the garments are this design too; it was difficult not to buy something just for the swing tag itself (I have a weakness for well designed tags. Don’t ask.)
A lot of the fixtures have this brushed gold effect, which I love and seems to be quite ‘Miss Selfridge-y’ while staying true to the rebrand. I’m not a fan of the tight and crowded merchandising here but it works ok in this context.
And on to the actual collection. A strong pastel palette with black accents and clashing, opulent prints; I absolutely love it. I wanted this body a lot (below) but it had quite a swimming costume feel to the material and I’m not sure if I could incorporate it into my wardobe so much – I love a body but I’d have to wear it with something high waisted – which means the print would be pretty much lost. Shame.
DESIGNED BY Print Body £25.00
DESIGNED BY Neon Print Vest £35.00
DESIGNED BY Mirror Print Tunic £32.00
Lots of psychedelic mirrored prints. Love.
DESIGNED BY Pleated Maxi Skirt £75.00
DESIGNED BY Dress £50
DESIGNED BY Bird Print Shirt £50.00
DESIGNED BY Bird Pencil Skirt £40
I love this skirt but there’s no way I can pull it off – a pencil skirt on me would have to be a dark colour with the bright print on top; this kind of design on my hips would widen me out no end. Looks fab though.
DESIGNED BY Leather & Chiffon Cutout Dress £90
This, is pure lust in a dress. The pricetag was a bit eye watering but I just could not resist – it’s everything I love and more. Juxtaposition of tough leather and girly pastel chiffon? Check? Tight body with flowing, flattering skirt? Check? Longer leg length but tiny bit of cleavage? Yep. Amazing. Everything I ever wanted. Now I just need somewhere to where it…
DESIGNED BY Dress £85
DESIGNED BY Printed Playsuit £40.00
DESIGNED BY Print Legging £25.00
The leggings are a great entry price point but again, I have to shy away from crazy leggings this season. I love them but when you have legs like mine you just can’t draw attention to them like that. Boohoo.
Buy (what’s left of) The Designed By Collection here.
