Hordes of Taylor Swift fans have flocked to a Croydon shopping centre after the superstar filmed her latest video there in a “top secret shoot”.
The singer’s fans, who call themselves “Swifties,” headed to the Whitgift in Croydon after the singer shot a 90s-themed Rom Com music video for “Opalite” there.
The Shake It Off singer starred alongside Domhnall Gleeson, of About Time fame, in the music video, which has already attracted nearly six million views.
One scene in the music video shows Swift and Gleeson travelling down the escalator, before going into a shop where they are greeted by Graham Norton giving out samples of an imaginary Opalite spray.
Fans of the musician have been spotted taking selfies in front of the now iconic escalator, which has become locally recognised as a new pop culture landmark.
Some fans were even spotted travelling down the escalator eating pretzels, as Swift and Gleeson do in one scene of the video.
The Whitgift, which was built between 1967 and 1970, sits at 1,300 square feet. The south London shopping centre enjoyed its heyday in the 1970s, but is now a shadow of its former self.
The building faced financial struggle after a drop in footfall on the high street.
It was promised redevelopment by Westfield and the landowners, the Whitgift Foundation, in 2012. The £1.4billion scheme of retail, leisure, offices and residential was all meant to be completed by 2017.
But despite two schemes being granted planning permission, a public inquiry and a massive Compulsory Purchase of property in the area, Westfield have yet to start work on the project.
In a short window of time, Swift’s video has brought crowds back to the shopping centre.
Announcing the release of the music video, the singer took to Instagram.
She wrote: “My favorite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason.
She went on to explain how the idea for the Opalite music video “crash landed into my imagination” while she was starring on the Graham Norton Show.
She said that during the show, Domhnall joked about wanting to be in one of the singer’s music videos.
Swift said a week later, she decided to make that happen, and bring Domnhall on, alongside the other guests on Norton’s couch that night, including the host himself.
“To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time-travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video,” she said.
She concluded, “I had more fun than I ever imagined - Made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters.”
