The beauty project could well be the most interesting campaign that the retailing world has seen in a long time. Special events, society-challenging debates, exclusive products and groundbreaking window displays are all ways in which Selfridges are celebrating and redefining their beauty hall this month.
A day doesn’t go by when Oxford Street isn’t buzzing with the hustle and bustle of busy shoppers, city workers, tourists, locals and people of all ages, ethnicities, styles and personalities. Shop windows are filled with size 6 mannequins luring you in with the latest trends and the newest beauty products are placed precariously at eye level with the promise to give you “flawless”, “airbrushed” skin.
Selfridges however are doing this differently this month. This week, when you pass the luxury store you will catch sight of the 8ft sign reading “hello beautiful” and see huge posters featuring real people. The stars of the beauty campaign don’t necessarily fit the typical beauty model criteria which has been ingrained into us over the years. At Selfridges they are challenging the idea of what is beautiful – you will see flashes of teal blue hair, full body tattoos, facial piercings, wrinkled skin and freckles all on show throughout their beauty hall.
What surprised us and impressed us most was how these “real” people radiated from the non-professional model photos; comfortableness in their own skin, a sense of ease and of true beauty.
The Beauty Project is the biggest beauty event that Selfridges have ever hosted and there’s so much to see and do both online and in-store at the London, Birmingham and Manchester branches. Talks are being held by beauty experts, journalists, authors and film-makers where topics such “Is beauty a state of mind?”, “Can you distill a character into a scent?”, “beauty ideas, cultural aesthetics and creativity” and more are going to be discussed and debated.
A tattoo shop and an array of exclusive beauty/fragrance products are also part of the campaign in order to create a variety of looks, and a photobooth has been set up in the London store which gives you the chance to appear in the world-famous window.
The man behind the lens of the beautiful photos, Norbert Schoerner, talks about how this campaign is different to those seen before; “it is a hybrid of a beauty and a portrait approach.” he explains ” Our campaign emphasizes the fact that beauty is hard to define” as well as hoping to tell a story with the images “they freeze a moment in time, with a strong emphasis on the models’ personalities. I would hope that the viewer gets a sense of an aspect of their identities.”
The Beauty Project truly is a celebration of all people, and holding it in a world-famous store is an incredible way to promote and open debate about how people engage with cultural standards of beauty nowadays and pushes the fact that beauty can’t be defined.
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