Christmas 2021

Stretching along Great Marlborough Street, the Liberty windows are famed for their innovative, all-encompassing displays. In this series, our Visual Concept Team unveils the stories behind them - from initial moodboards, to completed masterpiece.

This Christmas centres on sending joy to friends and family - choosing a gift with love and stamping it with magic. In the windows, this is translated as a display of bespoke letters, swirling around whimsical hot air balloons and cogs stuffed with presents. The plastic-free, hand-made build is an ode to the Royal Mail of yesteryear, looking back to a simpler time before Next Day Delivery. Here, Lead Creative Hannah Perse-Cottle shares the story behind the nostalgic display.

“Looking on to Regent Street, our journey begins with a magical post box that whisks the letters through the air and on their merry voyage. The campaign was heavily inspired by old photos of the Royal Mail depos; this is where our slides laden with gifts came from - although the windows are stationary we wanted to create the idea of movement everywhere.”

“We used 35,000 custom envelopes to add magic to these messages of love soaring to family and friends. The build is handmade in East London by a team of expert carpenters and scenic artists, working to construct every single element out of paper. We wanted to hero our Liberty purple but paired it with a festive red and cool lilac for a fresh and truly Liberty colour palette.”

“The letters continue to whip around our whimsical hot air balloons, made from our beautiful new Christmas print - they levitate as if taking off into the sky overloaded with presents. The baskets are made from woven paper and the printed paper balloons match the magical balloon in the central atrium. We then soar through a series of cogs, inspired by the mechanics of this process. The cogs are stuffed full of smaller gifts - the perfect little presents. Lastly, the letters fly through the front door, swooshing into a giant pile - an abundance of Christmas joy, right next to our own Liberty front door.”

“On the arches of flying envelopes, you can see they are addressed to Liberty with our beautiful stamps lifted directly from the print. Nestled amongst the soaring envelopes are gold paper stars. We wanted the design to only have paper in the build - no plastic at all. It was important to use paper as it evokes the tactile memories of sending mail and crafting, and it brings a warmth and depth that no other material can. Even better, it's all recyclable. To make this a true Christmas window we added lights, inspired by external Christmas lights that highlight the lines and architecture from the build, creating a twinkly line running across the windows.”