GDR Managing Director Rachel Wilkinson rounds up the best of Christmas decorations and festive brand activations in London. (Explore our gallery of images and videos above)
As the famous song goes: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” and Christmas in London really is a sight to behold! For those of you who have not been able to travel to London and enjoy this first hand, or want to know where all the best Christmas activations are, our roving futures team have ventured out and about in the capital to capture some of the most interesting trends, retail activations, festive windows, pop ups and Christmas magic to share with you.
It’s all about the selfie
If you are brave enough to venture through the Covid-ravaged crowds of London, there are selfie opportunities a plenty right now. Everyone looks better with a touch of snow and some glowing frost bitten cheeks – so if you want to pretend you made it to Lapland this Christmas, then Covent Garden is just the place for you to create an Insta-worthy photo opportunity!
The market’s piazza is running a regular ‘flurry of snow’ next to its vast Christmas tree where you can prance about to your heart’s delight in the ‘snow’. (In reality it’s more of a ‘flicker’ of snow, but it’s a nice idea!) In fact, thanks to Frozen playing on the stage at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, they have fully committed to this Frozen theme with a winter wonderland set at the front of the piazza and dining domes to the side, while nearby Floral Street’s has created a Frozen glitter tunnel with immersive projection mapping that passers-by can walk through to lose themselves in the film. (See our video here.)
Elsewhere, an unusual selfie opportunity can be found in Selfridges. Head up to the Toy Dept and you’ll find a huge moose (with actual people inside!) and fairy you can interact with. (I imagine these are from a Disney film I missed – answers on a postcard!). The kids were beside themselves with delight, I tell you! Whilst you’re there, don’t miss the windows, which are also fabulous and feature an array of animated festive sets for optimum selfie backgrounds. (See our videos here and here.)
Festive Brand Takeovers
Alongside Frozen, you can also find Lego’s Carousel of Curiosity in Covent Garden’s Piazza, This is exactly as it’s billed and is a great place for kids to be inspired and take pics by the iconic toy brick creations. You can scan a QR code for an AR activation and see your own Lego image activated here too. It’s a great awareness and footfall driver to the local Leicester Square branch. (See our videos here and here.)
On the other side of London in Kensington, Chanel has created a huge and stunning entrance to Harrods to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Chanel No5. There is also a treasure hunt competition around the store and a No5 Spaceship to visit inside. This powerful, disruptive, but traditional marketing, celebrates the brand, reminds shoppers of No5 as they enter the store, and doubles as OOH advertising.
Spectacular lights
Carnaby St is probably the most consistently beautiful and interesting each year in London, because rather than just putting up pretty lights, the street chooses to drive awareness of a worthy cause. This year the theme is Christmas Kaleidoscope and the lights and concept were created with charity partner Choose Love, to highlight and support the urgent need to raise funds for refugees around the world, with an additional fundraising stream for Afghan refugees. Find out more here: https://www.carnaby.co.uk/christmas/
This year’s installation features more than 600 sparkling butterflies, nestled amongst the iconic twinkling Carnaby Street flag sign, as a metaphor for “spiritual rebirth, transformation, change and hope”. The lights were switched on to coincide with an early Christmas retail event where shoppers could splurge amongst butterfly stilt walkers, drag artists and other pop-up entertainment. This works brilliantly to kick start the Christmas shopping amongst some of the niche brands, retailers and pop-ups and encourages footfall off the traditional main strips of Oxford St and Regent St nearby (which is also glittering with Angels and Starbursts).
New Bond Street is teeming with creativity at this time of year, thanks largely to the street’s luxury credentials and flagship stores. Standouts worth popping by for are Cartier: wrapped as a giant red present, Louis Vuitton’s bold neon patterned windows, Tiffany’s dream like clouds, Dior’s winter wonderland and Hermes’ slightly surreal yet artistic display.
Christmas Pop-Ups
Pop ups are a great footfall driver and entertainer – encouraging shoppers to venture out and discover something new. Ice Curling has landed at Coaldrops Yard along with weekly festive markets supporting various craftspeople, and a stunning high tech Christmas tree in the yard.
Selfridges has brought its Christmas market on the mews back, along with the Insta-worthy helter-skelter and wintery food stalls to keep that mulled wine topped up.
If you head to St Pancras Station, you can see London Zoo’s Christmas tree (and hear some plaintiff animal cries) promoting their conservation and charity programs.
Advent calendars
Fortnum & Mason has turned its entire store into a giant advent calendar on the outside. Each of the windows features a beautiful theme relating to the merchandise inside, with animated moving sprouts. (See our videos here and here.)
Whistles has brought back its digital calendar too. Scan a QR code in store or follow on Insta, to have the chance to win a prize every day. It cleverly links this to an activity encouraging you to check out its range.
If you’re struggling for the ideal present for someone who has everything, what better than the gift of memories? Harrods has stepped up its advent game with the Harrods Gift Experience Calendar. For a whopping £2,125, you can present your loved ones with a selection of premium experiences including: Champagne Breakfast for Two at The Tiffany Blue Box Café, a Personal Training Session at The Wellness Clinic, or a VIP Elixir VitaDrip®at The Wellness Clinic.
Sustainable Christmas
Of course, the Christmas holidays are no doubt one of the most commercial, excessive and wasteful in the world. This year we noted retailers were nodding to being more sustainable and circular (whilst also being driven by their basic need to actually survive, post-pandemic and through multiple lockdowns).
Stella McCartney’s neon windows on New Bond Street celebrate her Dad’s band (The Beatles – you might have heard of them!?) and are a link to her limited-edition capsule collection (appropriately named ‘Let it be’), which is a conscious, collectible range with pieces for customers of all ages and identities.
We’ve been covering the livestream trend from Asia over the last few years, but my Christmas jaunt around town was the first time I have spotted this in London, combined with a circular sustainable angle. Now, on South Molton St (or online!) you can explore Luxury Promise, which holds, presents and streams regular live luxury shows featuring pre-loved designer & vintage luxury merchandise. You can also sell or swap a luxury item instore, view the vintage Hermés collection, or buy online. The brand says: “The fashion industry is a major polluter and contributor to landfill, but not the way we do it. We’re all about slow, not fast, fashion here, repairing, restoring and re-homing amazing pre-loved pieces. We champion responsible luxury shopping, and future generations will thank us for it”.
Sticking with the sustainable theme, Paperchase has promoted its eco-pledge in-store declaring that ‘sustainability is not just for Christmas’. It has committed to removing glitter and plastic toys from crackers and all its products are now stated to come from sustainable sources.
We’ve seen a surge in conscious or sustainable gifts and circular present requests (donating to charity, adopting elephants and eChristmas cards). Check out this link if you want to buy from sustainable suppliers online – you will find recycled glass baubles here and even pencil cases made from old fire hoses! (they look better than they sound!) You can also now ‘borrow’ real trees for Christmas and then send them back to be re-planted until next year or hire decorations for the big day to impress the family.
However you choose to celebrate the holidays and whatever you are doing, I sincerely hope that you get to spend it with your loved ones this year – because that is really what the holidays are all about. Wishing you all a relaxing, healthy, happy and prosperous holiday season!
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