From John Galliano’s underwater wonderland to Daniel Lee’s bow-strewn Burberry vision, Claridge’s Christmas Tree has become London’s most glamorous holiday tradition. Discover every designer who has turned the Mayfair lobby into a festive fashion fantasy.
There are Christmas trees — and then there’s the Claridge’s Christmas Tree. Each year, the legendary Mayfair hotel transforms its Art Deco lobby into a dazzling stage where fashion meets fantasy. From John Galliano’s underwater dreamscape to Diane von Furstenberg’s Tree of Love and Daniel Lee’s bow-draped Burberry creation of 2025, this festive ritual has become one of London’s most glamorous traditions. A throwback to more than a decade of iconic designs, this story celebrates how Claridge’s turned a simple tree into a global style statement — one that glitters with imagination, craftsmanship, and couture-level Christmas spirit.
Let’s unwrap the timeless magic of Claridge’s Christmas Trees — year by year, designer by designer:
2025 – Daniel Lee for Burberry
A sculptural masterpiece of bows, bells, and oversized chess pieces, crowned with gold. Daniel Lee infused the tree with Burberry’s equestrian heritage and a contemporary sustainable twist — proving that Christmas chic can also be conscious.
2024 – Sir Paul Smith
Sir Paul Smith’s creation features a 20-foot tree in a striped barrel, bedecked with colourful baubles, ribbons and over 100 bespoke birdhouses. Brimming with charm and quintessential British wit.
2023 – Louis Vuitton by Nicolas Ghesquière
Claridge’s Christmas 2023 by Louis Vuitton
The Claridge’s x Louis Vuitton collaboration fused travel nostalgia and futuristic design. Ghesquière re-imagined the Christmas Tree as a shimmering trunk-like sculpture filled with mirrored baubles, nodding to both adventure and artistry.
2022 – Sandra Choi for Jimmy Choo
Claridge’s Christmas Tree 2022
Sandra Choi’s debut Claridge’s Tree paid homage to the golden age of Hollywood, complete with suspended shoes, silver ribbons, and mirrored baubles that twinkled like paparazzi flashes.
2021 – Kim Jones for Dior
In 2021, Claridge’s unveiled “The Celestial Snow Globe”, designed by Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Dior Men. Evoking the dreamlike beauty of a giant snow globe, the installation combined holographic projections with Dior’s signature toile de Jouy and intricate couture pleating techniques — a tribute to the maison’s legendary petites mains.
Radiating from the tree’s base and up the hotel’s grand staircase, the light projections created an atmosphere of pure enchantment, while a crystal star — echoing the talisman Monsieur Dior kept in his office — crowned the design. Luminous, modern, and poetic, it was a Christmas story woven from emotion, heritage, and dreams.
2020 – McQueens Flowers
A frosted white tree, more art installation than decoration: over 10,000 crystal garlands, pendants and a mirrored pool beneath.
2019 – Christian Louboutin
Claridge’s Christmas Tree 2019 by Christian Louboutin
For its 10th anniversary tree, Claridge’s collaborated with long-time friend Christian Louboutin, who brought his signature glamour to the lobby. Inspired by the romance of train travel, his creation featured the Loubi Express — a gleaming red train carriage set beside a five-metre tree adorned with gold and red baubles, fairy lights, and tiny shoe-shaped gingerbread biscuits. Inside the carriage, guests enjoyed champagne cocktails and festive tunes as wintry scenes rolled by, recreating the golden age of travel with unmistakable Louboutin flair.
2018 – Diane von Furstenberg
Her Tree of Love radiated colour, confidence, and joy. Covered in hand-blown glass hearts, zodiac symbols, and thousands of leaves representing life’s journey, it embodied her philosophy: that love is life’s greatest adventure. With every twinkle, guests were reminded that fashion — and Christmas — are both acts of optimism.
2017 – Karl Lagerfeld for Claridge’s
Karl Lagerfeld’s inverted tree at Claridges Hotel in London.
Karl Lagerfeld’s festive installation is inspired by his childhood memories of Christmas, with a series of inverted spruce Christmas Trees placed around the hotel lobby. The centrepiece is a sixteen foot high inverted tree with silver gilded roots topped with a multi-faceted mirrored star which reflects rays of magical light across the art deco lobby. Reminiscent of a silver stalactite, the tree is hung with traditional silver lametta decorations, silver butter leather feathers and snowflakes handmade by craftsmen in Germany with tree candles giving a warm, inviting glow. Under the tree sit hand sewn white Icelandic sheepskin rugs to reflect a recent snowfall.
2015 – Christopher Bailey for Burberry
2015 marked the first time that Claridge’s had a British designed Christmas Tree. Christopher Bailey’s creation featured over 100 umbrellas, each finished in bespoke gold and silver metallic fabric, and thousands of motion-sensor lights, programmed to sparkle and glitter as guests walked by the tree.
With London being at the heart of both Claridge’s and Burberry, the 2015 Claridge’s Christmas Tree was a true celebration of the two brands’ shared British heritage.
2014 – Dolce & Gabbana
In 2014, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana designed Claridge’s Christmas Tree for a second year in a row. Inspired by their childhood memories and to celebrate children of the world, the eight metre-high tree brought a magical woodland to life in the heart of Mayfair. The tree was also adorned with glass baubles that were hand-painted with international flags representing the many festive traditions celebrated the night before Christmas.
2013 – Dolce & Gabbana
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were the designers behind Claridge’s Christmas Tree in 2013. They presented a seven metre-high Christmas tree, reinterpreted with Sicilian elements that drew on the Italian heritage of the two designers. The tree was adorned with more than 450 Italian festive glass baubles blown by master artisans and a bespoke multi-coloured ‘luminarie’ framework, created in Southern Italy. At the base of the tree were 30 hand crafted Sicilian marionettes (Pupi) made in the likeness of Charlemagne and other medieval knights, carved in wood and dressed in velvet robes.
2011 – Alber Elbaz for Lanvin
Alber Elbaz for Lanvin designed Claridge’s Christmas Tree in 2011. Alber created a dream world of colour and fantasy with his signature marionettes and a silk figurine of himself with trademark glasses and bowtie at the top of the tree.
2010 – John Galliano for Dior
In 2010 Claridge’s welcomed back John Galliano for Dior to design its iconic Christmas Tree.
The celebrated designer unveiled his spectacular “Under the Sea” creation in Claridge’s art deco lobby – a Christmas Tree made of sparkling silver leaves, pink coral, sea horses, fish, anemones, starfish and jellyfish – truly one of a kind whimsical design.
2009 – John Galliano for Dior
2009 marked the first time Claridge’s Christmas Tree was to be designed by a famed fashion designer.
The Christmas Tree by John Galliano for Dior evoked a frozen twist on tradition with a tropical tree completed with snow leopard, dragon flies and parrots, echoing Claridge’s art deco surroundings.
SEE MORE ABOUT THIS SPECTACULAR TRADITION HERE
TheHotelTrotter.com is curated by greek journalist and fanatic hotel lover Eleni Stasinopoulou. With the eye of a fashion and lifestyle editor, Eleni hopes to inspire all connoisseurs of traveling, focusing on stylish hotel moments around the globe.
Leave A Reply