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Your new-season tour guide

Pick up a headset and form an orderly queue, as we take you on a rather fashionable tour of autumn/winter’s finest collectibles (as well as The Yorkshire Sculpture Park). Please feel free to touch and wear the artwork…

Camilla and Marc dress and trousers, Acne Studios jumper
Acne Studios – jumper / Camilla and Marc – dress and trousers / Y/Project - earrings  
Artwork: Wilder Shores of Desire by Marc Quinn

First up: the blank canvas

Though often touted as a painters’ nemesis, at Selfridges, we rather enjoy a blank canvas – when it comes to getting dressed, at least. A stripped-back, minimal styling approach has been our go-to for a little while now, but it’s feeling more relaxed and billowy for autumn/winter – a welcome advancement when roast dinners and mince pies are in abundance…

Cleanse your palette

Dundas purple gown
Dundas – gown  / Fleet Ilya – belt bag (coming soon)
Artwork: Molecule Man 1+1+1 by Jonathan Borofsky

Next, new colour theory

The colour palette is looking decidedly moody this season – from Dries Van Noten’s beguiling use of jewel tones against a backdrop of charcoal grey and black suits (the Cadbury-purple puffer coat is an Editorial team favourite), to Prada’s turquoise dresses layered under thick black lace to tone down the brightness. We’re feeling drawn to a richer, more melancholic approach to colour for winter, styled with dark shades. Join us, won’t you?

Get in the mood

Avant-garde eveningwear
Rick Owens gown
Rick Owens – black wrap blouse and sunglasses / Fleet Ilya - leather bra / 16 Arlington - leather trousers / Rick Owens – gown
Artwork: Supplement til Titlens Afskaffelse by Jørgen Haugen Sørensen

Take notes from the avant-gardes

On the catwalks this season, designers attempted to out drama each other for the most-decadent gown award. When it comes to dressing up, we’re taking cues from our most avant-garde designers, who sure know a thing or two about making statement pieces. Case in point: Rick Owens’ AW19 collection was a subversive and unfiltered approach to eveningwear. The designer told British Vogue: “I felt like I needed some grim, determined glamour.”

Experiment with eveningwear

Kassl Editions trench coat
Kassl Editions – trench coat / Y/Project – shirt / Baum Und Pferdgarten - leggings / Dries Van Noten – boots (available in store)
Artwork: Envelope of Pulsation (For Leo) by Peter Randall-Page

On your left, the timeless piece

Red postboxes, black cabs, double-decker buses and, of course, the trench coat – classic British icons that have stood the test of time. Only one of the aforementioned will look this good paired with bright floral trousers, though. This season at Selfridges, we welcome Kassl Editions, the Amsterdam-based label dedicated to one thing and one thing only: crafting the ultimate, fuss-free, everlasting trench (and boy, have they nailed it). She’s an autumnal dream and we hope you love her as much as we do.

Dig these trenches

Ashish knitted jumper
 Ashish – jumper (coming soon) / Shaun Leane – earrings

To your right, you’ll find craft works

Ashish’s AW19 collection was inspired by – of all things – his grandmother’s crochet blanket, which he’d wrapped up in during a nasty bout of flu. This proves that a) fashion inspiration can strike in the most unlikely of places, and b) our nans are onto a total winner when it comes to knitwear. This season: the brighter, the better.

Textile artists this way 

Paco Rabanne shirt and jumper
Paco Rabanne shirt and jumper
Paco Rabanne – shirt and jumper (coming soon) / Acne Studios - jeans / Loewe - bunny bag

Layering techniques in practice

As far as fashion-isms go, “layering” is perhaps the most ubiquitous at this time of the year. But bear with us here. While it may seem obvious to wear more clothing once the temperature drops, layering like a pro takes a bit of practice – plus a willingness to experiment. Play with clashing prints and textures (this Paco Rabanne silk shirt and knit combo is a great place to start), collar shapes and hemlines, to step up your wrapping-up-warm game.

Add more things

Feather-embellished dress and jacket
16 Arlington - feather dress (coming soon) / Shaun Leane – earrings / Prada – feathered denim jacket

Let’s discuss: the trophy pieces

The head-turning, stop-you-in-the-street/corner shop/art gallery (delete where applicable) pieces that have been calling our name this season are all about embellishment. With head-to-toe navy feathers at Huishan Zhang, roughed-up molten sequins at Simone Rocha and gold-chain linings at Burberry, this season’s set to be spellbinding.

All the trimmings

Gucci cape
Gucci cape
Gucci – cape / Dilara Findikoglu – jacket (worn underneath) / Jacquemus – leather trousers

Finally, explore the scenic landscapes

We’re hard-pressed to find anything more indicative of the approaching icy weather and drawn-in nights  than the sudden influx of blanket capes landing at Selfridges – and when they look as good as this season’s line-up, we’re more than willing to swap our light T-shirts for a woolly overcoat. This Gucci option is one part Ramblers Association to two parts fashion, and we’re completely sold.

The greatest capes

 Hurrah for The Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Not only is The Yorkshire Sculpture Park an exceptional backdrop for showcasing our finest AW19 pieces, but it’s an ongoing collaborator with us here at Selfridges, too. Nestled among the plinth-worthy bags in our Accessories Hall at Selfridges London is our Art Block – an ever-changing installation of brilliant artwork, curated by YSP’s Head of Curatorial Programmes, Helen Pheby. Our current art piece is Marco Miehling’s ‘A Tree is a Big Plant with a Stick Up in the Middle’ (2019) – a sustainably felled, suspended tree trunk that explores the merging of man-controlled and natural environments.

Art at Selfridges