This is every Studio Ghibli fanatic’s dream.
Even those who have not watched Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle — the cult anime film produced by the Japanese animation studio and currently streaming on Netflix — will still find joy at Selfridges’ new pop-up.
Proof of its excellence was visable to all on Oxford Street this morning. At 8am, enthusiasts queued up along a grass-and-pebble stoned carpet to find a larger than life model of the film’s scarecrow Turniphead at the door. They were there to catch the first glimpse of a Ghibli extravaganza.
Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson has designed a capsule collection with the much-loved characters splashed across accessories and ready-to-wear items. It is the third and final Loewe x Studio Ghibli collbaoration, which has seen Anderson pay homage to classics My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away in the past two years.
“One of my favourite Miyazaki creations is the 2004 fantasy epic Howl’s Moving Castle, which is one of the most commercially successful Japanese films in history,” Anderson says. “Loosely based on a 1986 novel of the same title by Diana Wynne Jones, it tells a story of loyalty and compassion against a backdrop of magic, imposing technology and the destructive effects of war, which makes it incredibly resonating.”
Uber-cute is the assignment. Find dog Hin made into a charming, pleated pouch, the film’s seductive Witch printed onto the red leather of the Amazona bag, and one particularly special feathered cardigan with the face of Wizard Howl, voiced in the film by Christian Bale, peeping through – a reference to the bird-like character he morphs into.
Notoriously in Ghibli films, food is a feast for the eyes. The same is true at Selfridges, where the downstairs Dolly’s Café has been infiltrated by an anime-inspired afternoon tea menu. This is where things get inner child overload. Little blue jellies come with cream clouds piped inside; lobster profiteroles are based on the film’s cauldron, and a particularly loveable rendition of Calcifer the flame comes as a mini macaroon.
There are vermicelli broomsticks, bubble cocktails and cappuccinos that come with with – you guessed it – Calcifer powdered on top, make for truly unrivalled Instagram content.
“The message is one of uplifting connection. Crafting fantasies to create alternative realities and see the world in a different way,” Anderson says. Anyone for an Oscar-winning pastry?
