Fantailing: Selfridges’ Taylor Swift Tour Pop-Up

The pop-up for Swift’s megabucks Eras Tour spans the third floor of Selfridges’ London flagship. Demonstrating an intimate understanding of Swiftie (a nickname for Swift’s legions of fans) subcultural touchstones, it’s filled with references to Swift-specific aesthetics and song lyrics, including acoustic guitars (synonymous with her 2006 hit Teardrops on My Guitar), disco balls (from 2020’s Mirrorball) and giant friendship bracelets (see below).

Key fan touchpoints include:

• Fan-Favourite Friendship Bracelets: Originating with Swift’s 2022 Midnights album lyrics – “so make the friendship bracelets” – DIY-style beaded bracelets are a staple of Swift fan fashion (hence Etsy’s 22,000% search increase for friendship bracelets during the 2023 Eras Tour launch; Financial Times, 2024). Honouring this key tenet in Swiftie fan culture, the activation includes an album-themed friendship bracelet collection and DIY kits from childhood-nostalgia-inspired American jeweller Crystal Haze.
  
  
• Rentable Tour Outfits: Aligning with Selfridges’ sustainability strategy – aiming for half of all transactions to be a resale, repair, rental or refill by 2030 (The Guardian, 2022) – the department store’s rental platform has a collection of Eras Tour concert-going outfits.
  
  
• Swift-Savvy References: A curated edit of beauty, fashion and home products, including cowboy boots (both evoking Swift’s country-music origins and tapping into the current western fashion trend) as well as a snake plush toy (referring to the iconic snake motif of Swift’s 2018 Reputation Tour).
  
  
• Archival Concert Tees: A collection of sought-after second-hand Taylor Swift concert tees (some dating back to 2008) is sourced by vintage T-shirt brand (and Reselfridges vendor) Not/Applicable.