Selfridges Obsessions has launched!

Selfridges Obsessions, a new biannual celebration of the season’s most irresistible ideas and objects has launched in London, Manchester, Birmingham and on www.selfridges.com.

A house of obsessions since 1909, Selfridges has long been the place to find something new, a barometer of culture and fashion. Selfridges Obsessions features a spectrum of Selfridges’s latest obsessions, niche or trending, of the moment or lifelong. 12 Selfridges Obsessions for SS25 include Chess, Long Weekends, Dogs, Hot Sauce, Matchsticks and Martinis.

Selfridges Obsessions can be discovered in Selfridges’s world-famous windows, and through playful product edits, events and experiences in all stores (including a chess club, a film club and a not to be missed opportunity for dog owners to have a portrait taken with their canine obsession). Creatives including @pablo.rochat, @chrismaggio and @jakubgessler have been enlisted as collaborators.

Judd Crane, Selfridges Executive Director, Buying & Brand, says: “Obsessions have become a social tender; a means of exchange and connection between likeminded people; the start of a friendship or a community. We had great fun coming up with our Selfridges Obsessions list, and in doing so we’re hoping to bring people together and open a light-hearted conversation around the things we love and why we love them. We’re excited to share our unexpected and unifying passions, as well as those of our customers this SS25.”

SS25 Selfridges Obsessions

1. Chess – A game of strategy, in which both the rules and board are black and white. Often includes moves as precise as the players’ Comme des Garçons checks.
2. Martinis – A gin- (or vodka-) based cocktail. Typically made with dry vermouth, olive brine or lemon peel, and strong opinions.
3. Hot Sauce – A spicy sauce and source of inspiration for chefs, designers and make-up artists alike. Made with chilli peppers.
4. Going Offline – The act of deleting apps, going off-grid or simply turning off your phone. Often associated with reading lists, board games and touching grass.
5. Paper – An everyday material manipulated for high fashion, home objects or art, often as wrapping.
6. Matchsticks – The stem of several SS25 Bottega Veneta looks. May appear on knitwear, dresses, or as decorative housewares.
7. Long Weekends – A short holiday created by adding a Friday and/or Monday to your weekend. Typically features French wine, tapas and new sunglasses.
8. Silver – The shiny, decorative detail or feature of SS25. Added to cupid bows at Miu Miu by Pat McGrath and one of JW Anderson’s shiny shift dresses.
9. Power Flowers – Artistic three-dimensional forms, especially by crochet and appliqué on the season’s sought-after dresses or by casting metal for jewellery and art.
10. High Gloss – Refers to Jil Sander trench coats, slick hair at Dries Van Noten, Gaetano Pesce chairs and the glass-like sheen that collectively defines them.
11. Fashion Comebacks – Notable pieces from past collections in a designer’s archive. Often worn or owned by iconic characters, models, celebrities. Styles reissued, often many years after their original fame.
12. Dogs – A popular companion and ultimate plus-one, often photogenic. Typically has an acute sense of style.

Obsessions – Event & Experiences

Everyone is welcome to share in Selfridges Obsessions, to socialise and connect, with chess, film and floristry experiences, plus special dog portraiture by photographer Jakub Gessler.

Jakub began documenting pets with their owners in 2020 and has since amassed a portfolio of over 160 portraits, inspired by traditional Renaissance paintings and family archives from the 80s. Dog owners will have the unique opportunity to be photographed by Jakub in London and Manchester Exchange Square for a special campaign for @theofficialselfridges.

Chess is not a new craze for Selfridges – the store hosted the most games of chess ever played at once, back in 1933. In 2025 in London, The Cinema at Selfridges will host mini chess tournaments with transatlantic Club Chess, a conceptual social club from subculture-obsessed Corinne Ciani and A. L. Bahta.

A fashion film programme in partnership with SHOWStudio offers film screenings, documentaries and panel talks, while Duke Street is in bloom with an immersive floral artwork created by The FLWR Feelings Lab. It promises to celebrate the power of flowers this spring and is set to provide abundant photo opportunities, too.

Customers are invited to join Martini masterclasses in Manchester Trafford, while in Manchester Exchange, the Matchstick obsession plays out with in store personalisation alongside fashion scrapbooking workshops with local sisterhood community The Flâneuse.

Obsessions – The Windows

Selfridges’s run of Oxford Street windows becomes a celebration of its twelve SS25 obsessions, assembling the world of each with humour and meticulous detail, drawing inspiration

from expert artisanship, extreme hobbies and exhaustive collections. Passers-by can expect playful interpretations including doggy daycare, a to-scale matchstick model of the Eiffel Tower made using more than 1,000 match sticks, and a 1980s inspired bar with “Martini Hatch”.

Obsessions – The Product Edit

Product edits have been created to help each obsession inhabit its fullest universe. Case in point: a Martini edit includes the finest gin, vodka and vermouth; fresh lemons; olives and their brine; a multitude of elegant glassware; cocktail shakers; and cocktail dresses, of course. Also, five in-store bars and restaurants have created bespoke Martini recipes, which are available now.

Selfridges food buyers have doubled the Foodhall Hot Sauce selection. More than 90 options await, including truffle, chilli, chocolate, lime and honey varieties – there’s something for all tastes, from handy handbag size to XXL.

Long Weekends are imagined and planned for with the best suitcase scenarios and city guides. RESELFRIDGES presents the originals making Fashion Comebacks, inspiring SS25 collections, including an exclusive repair and pre-loved concept from Burberry.

The Silver obsession manifests as silverware from Christofle, Georg Jensen and Gohar World, heavy metal make-up, and RTW and Accessories from Bottega Veneta, Khaite, Dries Van Noten and Junya Watanabe.

SS25 launches to obsess over include Khaite’s first physical accessories pop up, Christian Louboutin x Maison Margiela’s shoe collaboration and in late March, just in time for Mother’s Day, the Wonder Room will welcome a new flower and fine jewellery destination in celebration of Power Flowers.

Obsessions – Creative Content

Selfridges has commissioned Atlanta-based creative director Pablo Rochat and NYC-based photographer Chris Maggio to create a social-first campaign: a series of five 15-second videos, each spotlighting an obsessions through playful visual cues and vignettes with a humorous or unexpected twist.