Claridge’s has announced its much-anticipated annual Christmas “tree” will be designed by Louis Vuitton, with the brand set to reveal its designer decoration in the hotel’s lobby on 23 November.  

The Claridge’s Christmas Tree has long been a seasonal London landmark and symbolises the start of the festive season in the capital.

This is the 13th year Claridge’s has invited a distinguished fashion house and “friend of the hotel” to reinterpret the tree in its own distinctive style. The Claridge’s Christmas Tree 2023 by Louis Vuitton will bring together the two illustrious names under the shared historic vision of the Art of Travel.

Both companies started life in 1854, and Louis Vuitton himself was appointed as the personal layetier, or trunk maker and packer, to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

At the same time, the Empress made Claridge’s her winter residence, receiving visits from Queen Victoria which led to the hotel being known as the “annex to Buckingham Palace”, with Vuitton himself packing the Empress’s trunks himself for her stays at the hotel; the first Louis Vuitton London store opened in 1885 just around the corner.  

Claridge’s General Manager Paul Jackson said: “What an honour it is to welcome such a legendary house as Louis Vuitton to design our Claridge’s Christmas Tree this year. Christmas is the most magical time of year for us here at the hotel and we look forward to seeing guests and visitors immerse themselves in Louis Vuitton’s world.”