This year was slightly different for a few reasons; one, the shops have been intermittently closed due to lockdown, and, two, even when open a strict 8 pm curfew has been imposed. This restricted our leisurely pace, as the time we usually took had to be metered, impacting our geographical scope for reasons of efficiency. 

So, this year we focussed only on the Rue Saint Honoré district, which houses many flagship stores and branches off to Place Vendôme, Place de la Madeleine, Palais Royale, Le Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens and terminates at the President’s residence, Le Palais de L’Élysée.

The Christmas window installations this year also reflected the unique situation, with many luxury houses reflecting our home interior back at us including Vivienne Westwood, Longchamp, JM Weston, and Fendi. Interpretations of the Christmas tree – a symbol that infiltrates our homes – and its accouterments: baubles, garlands, and lights, were seen at Guerlain, Moschino, Chanel, Dior, Christian Louboutin, Prada, Vuitton, and Tory Burch. 

Dior, Cartier, and Chanel decorated the exterior of the stores fabulously, a trend that we picked up on last year, highlighting the ongoing importance of the exterior versus the interior in the visual merchandising world in Covid times.