Christmas is here!

Or is it? To my taste, it's a little bit early to start talking about Christmas. Making wishlists for Santa, yes, by all means. In fact, I started mine sometime back in August :) But to actually get to see Christmas decorations and lights, it's seems too much (my neighbour most obviously does not agree with me, since he just spent half the day putting up lights on the trees in his garden. The Xmas tree inside has been set up for one week now)

Still, it seems I'm in the minority here not only in my neighbourhood and Christmas has arrived - for retailers, at the very least. The past week has been one of fairy-tale and holiday unveilings.

First, Santa made an early stop at London department store Harrods to help launch its new fantastical festive window. The display plays with different themes of Disney fairytales, featuring much-loved traditional characters like Rapunzel or Cinderella alongside newer cartoon characters like Mulan or Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. Each of the 10 windows, which will remain in place until the end of the Christmas period, was created by a different fashion designer and some of the biggest names as that, including Oscar de la Renta, Versace, Escada and Roberto Cavalli.

Also tied with the unveiling of the new displays was the launch of a new collection of Haute Joaillerie by Chopard - a stunning and magical suite of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and hairpieces inspired by Disney's iconic princesses. Featuring the Chopard unmistakable craftsmanship, the pieces are the stuff of dreams. Fairytale dreams, that is.

Crossing the English channel, Christmas made a stop in the City of Lights, on what else if not an elephant? A Louis Vuitton-clad elephant. The animal took center stage for the unveiling of the new displays, having had the honour to push the button that lit up the famous French department store. As for the Louis Vuitton he was proudly sporting, it is because this year, LV has been responsible for decorating the Christmas window display to match the theme "The Ball of the Century", inspired by the 100 year anniversary of the Art Nouveau glass dome of the Galeries (an architectural gem for the ages).