Selfridges’ new No Noise concept is an idea that we, more perturbed than most by honking, barking and playing schoolchildren, could shout from the rooftops. But we won’t.

At the core of No Noise is the Silence Room, first instituted by the London store’s founder, the clearly visionary Harry Gordon Selfridge, over a hundred years ago, before “ringtone” was even a word. Like the original, the new Silence Room offers an oasis of quiet for those who may not know they want it. Nothing that makes a noise is allowed in.

But here’s where things really take a turn and may be a bridge too far for some. Selfridges has also launched Quiet Shop, wherein a highly curated range of products ranging from fashion to food stuffs encourage ‘considered purchasing.’ These are items that have been “de-branded,” as in stripped of all logos. Everything from jars of Crème de La Mer and bottles of Marmite to spring pieces by the likes of Acne, Maison Martin Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto, Jil Sander and Ann Demeulemeester have almost nothing that tells who the maker is—labels without labels.

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