Karl Lagerfeld will be designing the iconic Christmas tree at London’s Claridge’s Hotel this year. The Mayfair hotel’s legendary tree, which has a history of being designed by the some of the brightest names in the world of design—Dolce and Gabbana, Burberry, Marc Newson, Jony Ive and a host of others—is one of the most significant symbols of the festive season in London. Citing “Christmas trees” as “the strongest ‘souvenir’ of happy childhood,” Lagerfeld will be the 9th designer Christmas collaboration for the hotel, which began in 2009 with John Galliano for Dior who returned for a second tree a year later. Lagerfeld’s theme, though, is a closely guarded secret for now. Just to give you some perspective, in the past the tree has had some very creative avatars—for instance, Burberry fashioned it from gold and silver umbrellas. But Jony Ive and Marc Newson went a step further, transforming the entire lobby with a festive installation that had glowing light boxes filled with photographic images of snow-covered silver birch trees set against a pure white floor. Now that’s going to be hard to top!
