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DREAM MAKERS:

The Season's Feastings Christmas Windows

 

Words: Georgia Graham

Santa views the Selfridges Christmas windows

DREAM MAKERS:

The Season's Feastings Christmas Windows

Words: Georgia Graham

A Christmas feast doesn’t happen overnight. First, there’s the planning. Poring over recipes, writing out a shopping list, ordering all the ingredients and prepping the kitchen for the annual festive takeover. At Selfridges, cooking up our Christmas celebration follows a similar pattern, and for one team, the process is especially familiar. The icing on our Christmas cake is always the Selfridges window displays, a feast of creativity dreamed up by our windows team.

A few of the Selfridges windows team
In the studio with a few of the Selfridges windows team. Image: Andrew Broadhurst 
STEP 1: 

Set the scene

“We work on Christmas for most of the year,” explains Morag Hickmott, our Head of Windows. “We tend to get briefed just after ‘real Christmastime’, so in January-February. Then, there’s a bit of time to let that absorb, and we get started around springtime.”

First come the sketches, followed by miniature replicas to determine exactly how the designs will look. Summer signals the start of the production process, working out how these drawings and figurines will come to life in six months’ time. Next on the ingredients list is a team of contractors to help cook up the finished product, followed by a spoonful of direction from the buying teams, whose job it is to pick the products for the displays.

Arranging the window display
Arranging the "Game-Changing Cheese Board" window display. Image: Andrew Broadhurst
STEP 2: 

Gather the ingredients

For this year’s theme, the team was tasked with bringing Season’s Feastings to life. “In the windows, we’ve looked at food pairings and serving suggestions, so cherished family moments or traditions,” explains Bobbie Tree, Selfridges’ Senior Windows Manager. “It’s about the things that really build your perfect Christmas. For me, it’s about the bread sauce, for someone else it might be staying in pyjamas all day.”

As always, the Selfridges windows wouldn’t be complete without a splash of our signature yellow wit. This year, we got a bit cheesy. “For the ‘Game-Changing Cheese Board’ [window display], we combined a chess board – playing board games at Christmas – with a cheese board. We also have ‘Who’s doing the washing up?’ splashed across one window, which is hopefully what everyone relates to at Christmas!”

Selfridges windows stylist arranges the fridge afterparty
Taylor Tunaley, our Windows Stylist, puts the finishing touches on a fridge full of festive delicacies. Image: Andrew Broadhurst
STEP 3: 

Mix in a few creative challenges

Whilst it might sound like fun, there are plenty of challenges in bringing the windows to life each year. “We always have one window that is really painful. This year, it was the panettone,” says Morag. “We also had to get a giant cloche in store, so it came off a lorry, through a door and up into the windows. So, you can imagine everything that could have gone wrong along the way!”

“I think also the quantities angle – in each brussels sprout tree, we have about 6,000 [sprouts]!” recalls Taylor Tunaley, our Windows Stylist. “You do think: ‘Do I really need that many?’ But you always do.” Another unlikely skill needed to create the Christmas windows? Flexibility. “Getting in the windows is always a challenge!” says Morag. “Some of them are much smaller than others. You try to get in a door when there is only a tiny space to squeeze into.”

Choosing the colours for the giant panetonne
Choosing the colours for the giant panetonne. Image: Andrew Broadhurst
STEP 4: 

Make it Project Earth

Sustainability is also an important consideration when it comes to the design, and this year’s windows are no exception. “We’re trying to use natural or recyclable materials where we can,” explains Sydney Cunningham, the team’s Creative Producer. “We used wood and felt balls for the cranberries, and we used a bioresin for the clementines. We also worked with two amazing tufting artists to create the giant panettone. So we’ve got a basket weaver who’s weaving the whole structure out of willow and then the artist is tufting wool straight onto those panels. For the ‘Game-Changing Cheese Board’ window, those pieces are all covered in wax, and the tiramisu stack uses rubber, natural sponges and cork, leaving them untreated where we can.

“We try to think about the afterlife, so where we can repurpose things. A lot of stuff that comes out of the windows gets reused. At Christmas, when we’re making loads of snowballs, you know that those things will be used again in the future. We’re also hoping to collaborate with some charities and pass some things on to them. We always think about using natural materials and eco-materials and the process, but also where things end up.”

  • Santa and the Christmas disco pudding celebrate the windows reveal
    Celebrating the final reveal with Santa and our Season's Feastings disco pudding, in costumes designed by Max Allen. Image: Jason Alden
  • The completed Christmas Club Sandwich window
    Finishing the Christmas leftovers, the Selfridges way. Image: Jason Alden 
  • One of the Selfridges Christmas windows
    “In each brussels sprout tree, we have about 6,000 sprouts!” Image: Jason Alden
  • Santa visits the Selfridges Christmas windows
    Santa visits the Christmas windows. Image: Jason Alden
STEP 5: 

The big reveal

After months of work, the windows are then covered in vinyl wrapping, allowing them to be dressed before they become visible to the public. Over a few short days, the team wedge themselves carefully inside the glass to dress and arrange the pieces, ready to be revealed. Then, as if by magic, the vinyls come off and the Christmas windows are ready – fresh out of the oven for everyone to enjoy. The feeling behind the scenes? “That’s our Christmas Eve!” says Taylor.

Visit Selfridges’ Christmas windows until 25 December and learn more about Christmas at Selfridges with our Season’s Feastings guide, comprising everything from gift ideas to events, services and more.

Arranging the window display
The windows in our Birmingham store. Image: Ross Jukes

More Season’s Feastings

For some added festive flavour, visit our regional stores in Birmingham, Manchester Exchange Square and Manchester Trafford to enjoy more of our Season’s Feastings windows, disco pudding decorations and in-store entertainment.

Season's Feastings gift guide

SEASON'S FEASTINGS

Dressing up, setting up, merrymaking and gift-giving: introducing your guide to cooking up the ultimate Christmas with Selfridges.

Discover now