Selfridges: From Bleriot's Plane to Beyonce's Runway

Passion For Fashion steps inside Selfridges and the mega department stores shaping style, from historic firsts to celebrity-fueled launches across Macy's, Harrods and Liberty. From Harry Gordon Selfridge's 1909 vision to make shopping fun, we revisit the innovations that rewired retail: clothing on the shop floor, the perfume counter at the entrance, and the mantra the customer is always right. Selfridges also staged milestones far beyond clothes, hosting the first public TV demonstration and exhibiting Louis Bleriot's monoplane to crowds of thousands. Today its 540,000 square feet pack serious fashion muscle, from the world's biggest Shoe Gallery to in-store catwalk moments. In this episode, we see Hood By Air transform the car park into a skate park, Spencer Hart enlist Benedict Cumberbatch to model, and Jonathan Saunders host a VIP dinner. Bright Young Things spotlights new designers in those famed windows that over a million pass each week, while celebrity launches turn shopping into spectacle: Georgia May's jeans, Maria Sharapova's candy, and Emma Watson representing Lancôme. Selfridges now spans London, Manchester and Birmingham. Beyond Oxford Street, department stores drive pop culture. Macy's teams with designers like Alberta Ferretti and Karl Lagerfeld, drawing star appearances from P Diddy and Justin Bieber. Liberty keeps its collab streak alive with Nike and Doc Martens, while Rihanna and A$AP Rocky famously shut down stores in Fashion Killa. Online storefronts put Tom Ford's zebra look a click away. Our countdown of in-store commotions features Taylor Swift's fragrance chaos at Macy's, Lady Gaga's creative workshop for Barneys benefiting Born This Way, Katy Perry's Purr with a purple cast, and Rihanna's Rebel Fleur tour hitting Macy's and House of Fraser, with PR touting 80 million dollars in sales. Window wars get cinematic: Karl Lagerfeld's festive mini Karls at Printemps, Sofia Coppola's Louis Vuitton tableaux at Bon Marche, and Bloomingdale's Cirque du Soleil acrobatics. Films from Mannequin and Confessions of a Shopaholic to Clueless, Pretty Woman and Mean Girls remind us why retail therapy endures. Crowning the runway, Beyonce brings House of Deryon to Selfridges, while her fashion evolution spans Thierry Mugler, McQueen, Pucci, Gaultier and Gareth Pugh. Couture. Kick. Soul. #Selfridges #FashionHistory #DepartmentStores #Macys #Beyonce #KarlLagerfeld #Retail