Santa sequins and Brexit Christmas windows
Humour seems to be the theme this year in Selfridges' windows (above) and no money was spared in the designs of one of London's most famous shops.
The store commissioned a handmade bespoke sequin Santa suit for each of its Christmas windows this year. Each suit took 193 hours to make.
Five of the windows have an accompanying party soundtrack. The music is played via a special speaker that uses glass to convey sound.
Set designer Clementine Keith-Roach hand-painted all the background mountain scenery by hand, based on observation of real mountains from the Matterhorn to Everest.
Glittered acrylics, pastel sheepskins, iridescent snow, gold lame and super-soft velvets are among the materials used. It takes 24 hours a day over one week to get the windows ready.
All the products seen can be bought in the store, in contrast to Liberty's who went for an immersive experience without showcasing products, taking inspiration from The Nutcracker. Wooden ballerinas and toy soldiers stand against a backdrop of clocks and presents.
Liz Silvester, Head of Visual Identity at Liberty described how music, dance and drama was chosen to bring out the charm of Christmas this year. The store worked in partnership with the Royal Ballet to create the windows and Director, Kevin O'Hare was delighted to be able to share the work of the company through this medium.
Fortnum's Brexit windows
Fortnum & Mason looked to politics to inspire its designs. The store felt that after a turbulent 12 months with events like Brexit and the US election splitting opinions and dividing families and friends, it would launch a campaign 'Together We're Merrier - encouraging the 'coming together'.
A series of nine stories featuring partnerships of classic arch-enemies with charming outcomes includes 'The Bull and The China' and 'The Butcher and The Turkey'.
Harvey Nichols has a focus on the Italian Renaissance with 100,000 glittering ice-white balls to build clouds, chandeliers and candelabras and 4,000 meters of knitting wool for decoration. 500 litres of paint were used for the marble-effect columns. Lighting creates two different looks between day and night.