Christmas windows from around the world

With Christmas fast approaching, FashionUnited has rounded up the best of this year’s festive window displays at iconic department stores across the world, from Selfridges in London to Printemps in Paris and Saks in New York.

Selfridges, London

Selfridges have transformed 15 windows at its Oxford Street, London store into a must-see festive display inspired by the surreal and spectacular interpretations of festive ‘foodie’ moments. Highlights include a Brussels sprouts Christmas tree stacked on top of a car, giant potatoes dressing up as Santas, and a club sandwich fest in front of a fridge filled with silver designer bags and accessories.

Meave Wall, stores director at Selfridges, said in a statement: “This Christmas is all about coming together with loved ones to enjoy cherished rituals. We’re inspired by the power of food in bringing people together and through our theme, Season’s Feastings, are celebrating what this means to us at Selfridges.

“With our iconic Christmas windows on Oxford Street, Christmas Shops in every store and a line-up of fantastic entertainment, we’re ready and excited to welcome customers in to make their festive season brighter.”

Saks Fifth Avenue, New York

Saks Fifth Avenue has partnered with the Elton John AIDS Foundation for a festive window display and newly designed light show inspired by Sir Elton John’s “joyous personality”. The New York City flagship’s centre six windows on Fifth Avenue are inspired both by the theme of heart-warming holiday gifts from years past and its charity partnership. While the British singer has co-curated three dedicated windows on 50th street including a bespoke display from Gucci, who is John’s exclusive costume designer for his final tour, featuring archival looks from the brand and custom-made suits for the singer.

Alongside the windows is a spectacular light show featuring more than 600,000 individual points of light, where the lights illuminate from within the windows and coordinate with the holiday medley of Elton John songs on the building’s façade.

In addition, Saks is donating 1 million US dollars to Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Rocket Fund, including 500,000 US dollars of proceeds from the multi-vendor merchandise collection, regardless of sales. The collection is co-curated by Saks and John and features products across all categories including women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, accessories, kids, beauty and home from Gucci, Versace, Valentino, Wales Bonner, Jonathan Adler, Jason Wu, and Paco Rabanne.

Marc Metrick, chief executive at Saks, said in a statement: “Saks is proud to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation and partner with Sir Elton John, who shares our passion for self-expression through creativity and fashion.

“At Saks, we are committed to connecting with our customers through unique experiences and impactful partnerships. We’re pleased to work with this incredible organisation to provide our customers with an opportunity to give back this holiday season and look forward to sharing this meaningful campaign across the total Saks Fifth Avenue experience.”

Harrods, London

Knightsbridge department store Harrods has been turned into a giant glittering gingerbread house for the festive season by Dior. The French fashion house has transformed the store’s 44 window displays and illuminated the façade with stars, roses and flowers, including a 17-metre-high central star structure inspired by the “celebration of dreams and Dior savoir-faire”.

As well as the windows, Dior has opened pop-ups inside highlighting gifting, beauty, and fragrance and opened Le Café Dior. The luxury brand also has a ‘Kingdom of Dreams’ exhibition recounting the Dior journey, from its landmark locations to the founder, made entirely out of gingerbread cookies.

Printemps Haussmann, Paris

Printemps’ Christmas windows always delight people passing by the Boulevard Haussmann in Paris and this year’s festive season Santa Claus is playing the role of Ringmaster ‘Monsieur Loyal’ and introducing his circus troupe. Among the 11 windows, highlights include Christmas aerial circus balloons casting off with Santa surrounded by tightrope walkers and magicians, while other windows are dedicated to clowns and trapeze artists. The finale showcases Santa's Christmas party hosted around a Ferrero Rocher pyramid.

In numbers, the Printemps Christmas windows on Boulevard Haussmann took 150 people 3 weeks and more than 650 hours to assemble 40,000 decorative elements and 3,400 metres of light garlands.

Harvey Nichols, London

Luxury British retailer Harvey Nichols has taken inspiration from festive celebrations for its enticing Christmas windows to spread some holiday magic. The windows have been transformed by using a sparkly metallic colour palette of golds and silvers, with displays featuring disco ball-inspired panels made from sequins that frame the windows to mirrored decorations that reflect and bounce beams of light onto the iconic streets of Knightsbridge.

Janet Wardley, head of visual display at Harvey Nichols, said in a statement: “This year we went all out with sparkle, mirrors and metallics, to create something truly mesmerising and eye-catching, that excites our customers when shopping this Christmas.

“We filled our windows with angular mirrored screens and oversized sparkling stars, and the most wonderful gifting ideas to help our customer get into the Christmas spirit!”

Macy's Herald Square, New York

For the 2022 festive season, Macy’s has created a whimsical animated world in its windows featuring scenes of how we celebrate the holidays together with loved ones. Highlights include polar bears wrapped in bright sweaters alongside the store’s adorable reindeer Tiptoe in a giant stripy scarf, rabbits typing up their wish list to Santa, and woodland creatures organising the decorations.

“With dazzling displays and treasured traditions, Macy’s continues to delight generations as the destination for holiday magic. We welcome the holiday season with the return of visits with the one-and-only Santa Claus, Macy’s Great Trees, animated windows and more,” said Will Coss, Macy’s vice president of Branded Entertainment. “We are delighted that these cherished experiences continue to create fun, whimsical and unforgettable memories for the whole family.”