Selfridges campaign leans into cultural obsessions
Selfridges Obsessions is serving up a quirky nod to people’s passions and pastimes with the help of creatives Pablo Rochat, Chris Maggio and Jakub Gessler
Selfridges has curated a selection of ‘obsessions’ for spring/summer 2025, which will play out across social content, store displays and events, and product edits (it is a retail brand after all). For its inaugural edition, expect to see everything from chess to hot sauce, matchsticks to dogs among Selfridges’ 12 obsessions this season. While some of the focuses clearly relate to aesthetic trends, others are more figurative, like long weekends or going offline.
As part of this season’s campaign, the brand is launching a series of events including chess tournaments, a ‘conceptual social club’, and dog portraiture sessions by photographer Jakub Gessler in Manchester and London. Meanwhile Show Studio has contributed to a programme of fashion film screenings and talks, while the Manchester-based collective The Flâneuse will lead fashion scrapbooking workshops.
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Stores will also feature dedicated displays, including a presentation of all 12 themes in the windows of its Oxford Street flagship, with installations such as an 80s-inspired martini bar and a matchstick model of the Eiffel Tower.
“Obsessions have become a social tender; a means of exchange and connection between likeminded people; the start of a friendship or a community,” says Judd Crane, executive director of buying and brand at Selfridges. “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.”
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Obsessions has launched with a social-first campaign featuring playful short-form content by photographer Chris Maggio and creative director Pablo Rochat, both known for blending humour and levity into their work.
Selfridges Obsessions will relaunch twice a year with a fresh list of obsessions. The approach reflects the emphasis on both micro-trends and micro-communities in today’s communications landscape, as seen in other brands’ activities such as V&A’s platform If You’re Into It, It’s in the V&A, and Vinted’s recent campaign highlighting shoppers’ unique personas.
Although some people might interpret Obsessions as turning genuine interests into seasonal fads, the brand argues that the premise isn’t just about reflecting current trends but about celebrating a revolving roster of lifelong passions and pastimes, too.
Selfridges claims to have its own personal connection to the history of some of these ‘obsessions’, such as its historic chess event in 1933, where the most games of chess were played simultaneously in one space.
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