Interview

In a move that's more Nightmare Before Christmas than Miracle on 34th Street, Topshop has commissioned Gareth Pugh to create a Christmas tree. Pugh's spindly tree is a 9-foot-tall, freestanding structure, made of 60 white neon lights. It's not the first time Pugh has taken his enthusiasm for neon to interior decoration-though he moved his show to Paris, last September he designed the Moet & Chandon room during London Fashion Week. Says Pugh, "The simple melding of tradition and modernity aptly suits the mood at the moment; we are all looking to a brighter future." The trees are now on display in Topshop's Oxford Circus flagship store and its new store in Westfield London. Had the New York City Topshop store opened this fall as was planned, perhaps we would be having a more fluorescent Christmas.