December 1, 2025 |
It’s December 1, which means the festive season is officially in full swing, with glittering façades full of gilded baubles and frosted fir garlands lining every major shopping street across the country and signalling the annual return of big-budget Christmas takeovers. One such initiation is happening at Harrods, where, year on year, a leading brand envelops the Knightsbridge store in a full holiday transformation. Last year it was Loro Piana – the façade wrapped, metaphorically, in cashmere, complete with oversized yarn spools, plush window dressings and a glowing alpine palette. The year before, Valentino saturated the building in Pink PP, complete with neon-lit awnings and monochrome displays built entirely around Pierpaolo Piccioli’s signature shade. This year, Brunello Cucinelli has entered the chat.
Bringing the magic of Solomeo – Cucinelli’s stomping grounds – to London, the king of quiet luxury has installed a six-chapter narrative across Harrods’ 21 windows along Brompton Road and Hans Crescent, each one depicting a moment from the Feelosophy story. The concept celebrates the tactile softness of cashmere and the humanistic values woven through Cucinelli’s world: dignity, grace and balance.
Those values form the visual and thematic foundation for the installation’s mythical protagonist, Philo – a benevolent white griffin drawn from Solomeo’s heraldic emblem. His name comes from the Greek phílos, meaning “one who loves,” positioning him as a symbolic guardian of knowledge, culture and craft. Across the windows, the story follows Philo on a journey from Italy to the wider world, and finally, the Big Smoke, scene by whimsical scene.
But, what would Christmas be without a decadent tree? Cucinelli has installed a six-metre-tall Christmas tree in Hans Crescent, built around a vertical spool of cashmere thread – a direct symbol of the house’s heritage and craftsmanship. It’s wrapped with lights and crowned with Solomeo’s heraldic griffin, resting atop a bed of cloud-like white formations echoing wool fibre.
What’s more, an exclusive Brunello Cucinelli capsule accompanies the installation – available only in the Harrods boutique for the duration of the festive season. For men, the edit includes cashmere and shearling outerwear, sweaters and cardigans in limited-edition winter tones designed specifically for Harrods. For women, the offer centres on Opera handmade knitwear in exclusive colours, couture-crafted dresses and coordinated sets, plus eveningwear featuring three-dimensional croc embroidery, created specially for the takeover.
The Harrods transformation arrives in line with Cucinelli’s recognition at tonight’s Fashion Awards, taking place at Royal Albert Hall, where the Umbrian designer will be honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award. The accolade recognises his “exceptional contribution to the world of fashion” and acknowledges the ways in which “his innovations in cashmere, combined with the ethical vision of Humanistic Capitalism and Human Sustainability, have set a benchmark for the fashion industry and for business at large”.
And so Feelosophy becomes more than decor – it is the physical expression of the Cucinelli worldview: softness as a value, beauty as purpose, craftsmanship as culture. Have a happy Harrods Christmas, the Brunello Cucinelli way.
Photography courtesy of Brunello Cucinelli.
