PARIS — Fresh from his Olympics’ closing ceremony success, designer Kevin Germanier will take over the Christmas windows at Galeries Lafayette.
The Swiss designer is also behind the fashion featured in the holiday advertising campaign, a first for the department store.
All this as Galeries Lafayette celebrates its 130th anniversary this year. To honor the big birthday of the historic department store, Germanier looked to the designs of Christmases past for inspiration.
He worked with the in-store archivists to source photos of past windows, and used one from 1959 as inspiration. The main theme is light, with various interpretations from the glint of a diamond, the warmth of candlelight or the glow of a phone. All the displays will be in line with his glamorous house codes.
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All of the decorations in the 11 windows at the flagship on Boulevard Haussman and 17 additional windows in Galeries Lafayette stores across the country will be made from upcycled materials, keeping with his house ethos. The process began in January, and upended Galeries Lafayette’s usual way of working from sketches due to Germanier’s extended treasure hunt for materials.
Like a little kid at Christmas, that meant Germanier was able to dig through the collection of Nathalie Bournillat, the director of Ateliers Bournillat, which is traditionally responsible for coordinating the decorations, at her vast warehouse on the outskirts of Paris.
“I’m happy to say that everything that we have produced — the sequins that we have, the fake feathers, all the core materials for the puppets — is sourced from previous [window displays],” Germanier said. The windows are also inclusive to inspire everyone in the holiday spirit.
In another first, he worked with his younger brother Samuel, making it a family affair. The elder Germanier enlisted graphic designer Samuel to create sketches for the posters that will adorn the out-of-town Galeries Lafayette stores around the country. The illustrations reimagine his “crazy outfits,” Germanier said, translated from his collages that incorporate AI.
It’s a “full-circle moment” for the Germanier brothers. His parents used to bring the two, along with his sister, from Switzerland by train to see the department store’s window decorations at Christmas time. “It’s quite emotional, and it’s my favorite time of year. It’s super cheesy, but I just love it,” he said.
The central tree that sits under the store’s grand dome will also take inspiration from Germanier’s looks, and will be topped with a fiber-optic firework burst.
The designer, known for his love of all things shiny and sparkly, joked that even he was taken aback upon seeing the prototype. “They said, ‘more is more,’” he said. “I was like, wow, I never thought I’d say this, but it’s a lot.”
The windows and tree will be unveiled Nov. 14.
