Time to Put Up the Christmas Pugh

Gareth Pugh has reinvented the traditional Christmas tree for Topshop to create a "modern seasonal celebratory symbol". I take that as meaning everyone can enjoy it. Standing 2.8-metres tall, it features 60 white neon tubes on a free-standing metal structure. The tree was unveiled Tuesday at Topshop's newest location in London's Westfield shopping centre, and can also be seen at the Oxford Circus flagship store.

"This neon tree is my interpretation of the traditional Christmas tree shape, putting a super-slick and modern edge to it," the designer explains. "Neon was an obvious choice for me, linking it both to the aesthetic of the Moët & Chandon room I designed at London Fashion Week in September, and the set of my debut show in Paris for spring/summer 2009."

"I think the simple melding of tradition and modernity aptly suits the mood at the moment; we are all looking to a brighter future."

It's really cool and all, but for me, a Christmas tree just isn't a Christmas tree until it has tattered painted toilet paper rolls sparsely adorned with glitter hanging on it. (My parents still use the ornaments I made in nursery school, a looong time ago. They are quite pathetic looking but alas, an institution.)

Via Vogue UK