At the moment, I am loving Selfridges. And not because of what’s in the store so much as what’s next door, namely England’s largest in-door skateboard park. As part of Selfridge’s cool Board Games campaign the department store has opened a specially-designed skateboard park with ramps, jumps and more in the Old Selfridges Hotel accessible via Orchard Street. And it’s all free- entry is free, equipment hire is free and even weekend lessons are free (one per person). You’ve got to love a store that does that.
I visited the pop-up park yesterday (closes April 19), and the all exposed-brickwork park was rocking. A skater told me that pros are interspersed amidst the amateurs.
“How can you tell which are the pro’s?” I asked.
“They’re the ones who are really good at skating,” he said.
And for those drawn to the free spirit attitude of skateboarding but not sure their bodies are up to the task, invest in the look at Selfridges which is selling limited edition designer decks.
Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto may never have been on a skateboard, but the septuagenarian designer is still a rebel at heart. He put an X-ray of his own skull on his exclusive Selfridges skateboard. I also like the skater-designed boards, specifically Benny Fairfax’s Palace Anguilla one. I liked it so much it’s hanging on my wall. Yamamoto’s board may be a limited edition, but his young-at-heart attitude, thankfully, is not.
April, 2014
