A Victoria Beckham Christmas

When December arrives, festive decorations soon follow. Sparkling garlands, snowflakes, angels, and red and green motifs inundate public and private spaces. Fashion designer Victoria Beckham, however, brought a more pared-down and artful approach to the holiday season.

For her 36 Dover Street flagship in London, Beckham collaborated with Shirazeh Houshiary, an Iranian visual artist who rose to prominence as a sculptor in the ’80s. Earlier this morning they unveiled Houshiary’s atypical Christmas tree installation.

“It felt right to celebrate our first festive season not with a traditional Christmas display, but with something more integral to the space and the architecture,” explained Beckham. An undecorated pine tree suspends upside down above the stairwell of the industrially-designed store. Its roots are exposed and red, displaying what is usually hidden in a tree stand or surrounded by a skirt. The tip of the tree, typically donned with an angel or star, floats an inch above the floor. Above, an exclusive timelapse video, filtered in red, that shows the complicated process of installing the piece.

“I fell in love with Shirazeh’s original upside down Christmas tree that she created for the Tate in 1993,” Beckham added. “I am so thrilled that she has agreed to revisit elements of that concept for Dover Street and collaborate with me on my first Christmas installation for the store.”