Claridge’s tree by John Galliano
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
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Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.
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