The department stores celebrating Christmas

For Christmas, read festivities. For festivities, read decorations. Then, for decorations, inevitably read department stores, which are the real temples to Christmas. Thanks to their array of decorations, our living spaces can put aside their functional nature to enter the dimension of ritual, entering into the creation of a magical and suspended world, far from the frenzy of everyday life. In this collection, we take you around the world to discover where, and how, the pagan celebration of Christmas is handed down and renewed with wonderful shop windows, sparkling decorated fir trees and proposals for out of the ordinary Christmas shopping.

Rinascente, piazza Duomo Milan

It is the Milanese symbol of designer spending ... it is no coincidence that this is the department store that launched the Compasso d'Oro Award in 1954 with Gio Ponti. The large windows onto Piazza Duomo, always keen to interpret the seasonal events with sensitivity and imagination, invite us across the threshold to find out how to make our homes warmer and more welcoming. For holiday enthusiasts, the place to be is on the sixth floor with The Christmas Factory, a Christmas corner that features a line-up of 16,000 nutcrackers, a selection of Neapolitan nativity scenes, including those by Di Virgilio 1830 and Petrucciani San Gregorio Armeno, as well as a wide range of Christmas delicacies. Two essential Italian Christmas must-haves are present and correct: Pandoro and Panettone.

Les Galeries Lafayette, boulevard Haussmann Paris

It may be a cliché, but the City of Lights adores being vamped up for Christmas. Take for example the Champs-Élysées, a magnet for luxury flaneurs and aspiring ones, and the old-established department stores, which assume their sparkly, deco festive guise between November and December. Among them, the  Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann remains a jewel in the crown, if only for the monumental Christmas tree that is always erected under the famous glass cupola. The department store is celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2024. The latest offerings for the occasion include creations by Kevin Germanier, a rising fashion star straddling luxury and upcycling, with a collection designed exclusively for the windows of Galeries Lafayette.

Selfridges, Oxford street London

It’s London’s go-to for Christmas decorations, from the great English classics – Christmas crackers and Christmas pudding, stockings to hang by the fireplace, candles and lights – to pop incarnations, such as baubles inspired by the Royal Family, not least Queen Elizabeth II's corgis. The inconvertibly maximalist style – the theme for 2024 is The More the Merrier! – does not stint on glitter, as in light-hearted partywear proposals. There is also a huge selection of Christmas tableware, not to mention a section dedicated to gifts, which also include pre-loved products. The large windows are spectacular too, an artistic project by many different hands, which this year boasts the input of Andrew Logan, Charles Jeffrey and Flaminia Veronesi, amongst others.

Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Michigan, United States

The Americans, eternal optimists, love doing things large-scale, and Bronner’s, the biggest Christmas decoration shop in the world, never live up to this. Located not far from Detroit, in a part of Michigan known as Little Bavaria, it prides itself on stocking more than 50,000 presents and decorations. Staying with the big numbers, its drive is lit by 100,000 sparkling lights. In a mixture of profane and sacred, Bronner’s also contains the Silent Night Memorial Chapel, a replica of the German chapel where Stille Nacht (Silent Night) was first sung. 

House of Holiday, New York

Which is more sustainable, a real or a plastic Christmas tree? The answer might surprise: it depends. If kept for a number of years, plastic has a lower environmental impact than a tree with roots bought new every year. House of Holiday, a large New York department store specialising in Christmas decorations, has hedged its bets, coming up with the largest selection of both. Along with trees, the catalogue also boasts an enormous range of ornaments, garlands, accessories and lights.