There’s no time like Christmas for a little togetherness, and this season two of Britain’s best loved institutions - namely Mayfair’s Claridge’s hotel and the impossibly talented Creative Director of Dior, John Galliano - have joined forces to sprinkle a little eccentric festive sparkle upon the capital.
Unveiled today, the Claridge's tree may have taken residence a little early by most yuletide standards, but then there’s little traditional about John Galliano’s creation.
Eschewing the practice of sprucing up a spruce to within an inch of its life, Galliano’s arboreal offering would perhaps be more at home in a Japanese ornamental garden.
Inspired by Claridge’s art deco surrounds, the contorted bonsai-inspired limbs, glistening blue tinged leaves and papier-mache snow leopard prowling the branches result in an unexpectedly festive effect.
Taking its cue from Galliano’s oriental-inspired creations for Dior’s Fall Winter 2009 outing, the tree - in all it’s Far Eastern, frost-tinged glory - injects a welcome dose of avant-garde artistry into one of London’s most established addresses: as Galliano states himself, ‘I wanted to bring a twist to the original Christmas tree’. It’s safe to say that he’s succeeded.
ADDRESS
Claridge's
Brook Street
Mayfair
London
W1K 4HR
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the worldWe round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
-
Stone dials are making a comeback: here are the watches doing it bestWatches with hard stone dials are enjoying a surge in popularity
-
These illuminating fashion interviews tell the story of style in 2024Selected by fashion features editor Jack Moss from the pages of Wallpaper*, these interviews tell the stories behind the designers who have shaped 2024 – from Kim Jones to Tory Burch, Willy Chavarria to Martine Rose
