A SPOOKY LITTLE CHRISTMAS: On the heels of the London Design Museum’s “World of Tim Burton,” Harvey Nichols has revealed a set of spooky Christmas windows created in partnership with the exhibition, and inspired by the gothic director’s work.
One display even features five sculptures from Burton’s private collection. The figures are from Burton’s poetry book, “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories,” and include the Girl With Many Eyes, Stainboy and Jimmy, the Hideous Penguin Boy.
The windows feature a swirling black-and-white background, inspired by Burton’s eerily whimsical worlds.
Courtesy of Harvey Nichols / Antony Jones
Janet Wardley, head of visual display at Harvey Nichols, said silhouettes of trees frame both the interior and exterior of the store “creating a captivating fantasy forest.”
Inside, there are specially commissioned crystal and metal trees adorned with Harvey Nichols’ gifts, while mannequins with branch-like headpieces showcase the season’s party wear.
The Design Museum’s retrospective of Burton’s work, which was presented in partnership with Harvey Nichols, looks at the methods behind the director’s wonderfully macabre madness.
“It’s like walking around in a weird, beautiful funhouse, which I love,” Burton said ahead of the exhibition’s opening last month. He conceded, however, that there was something slightly mortifying about one’s adolescent artwork being on public display.
Merchandise was slung around fantastical trees.
Courtesy of Harvey Nichols / Antony Jones
“It’s like seeing your dirty laundry put on the walls or something,” the director said. “I can’t overly look at it because it slightly overwhelms me.”
The Christmas window unveiling came days before Harvey Nichols named the British stylist and editor Kate Phelan to the new role of creative director, with immediate effect.
Phelan will be responsible for Harvey Nichols’ brand campaigns, as well as “elevating the visual identity of the brand and its creative propositions,” the store said.