SPARKLE PLENTY: Attention all fairy princes and princesses: Swarovski has taken over The Corner Shop, and a suite of windows, at Selfridges to mark 20 years of the crystal expert’s collaboration with Disney.
The corner of Oxford Street and Duke Street is now dazzlingly bright and brimming with colorful faceted crystals in the windows, and in store, all part of the new Disney x Swarovski collection.
One window is dedicated to Cinderella’s crystal slipper, which sits on a grand, curving staircase. The shoe, which has 221 facets, is one of the originals used in the 2015 Disney film.
Next door is the “Beauty and the Beast” window, which showcases a giant Enchanted Rose made from nearly 200 pounds of crystals. The piece, which sits in an embellished glass bell jar, took 205 hours to make, while the design, and the accompanying collection, are currently exclusive to Selfridges.
The Disney x Swarovski windows at Selfridges.
The “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” window is meant to be an homage to animation. It features a large, spinning praxinoscope that shows a leaping, spotted puppy from the film. The fourth window is all about “Bambi.” It features a baby deer created from more than two million crystals, some of which resemble snowflakes.
Inside The Corner Shop, Swarovski has installed more creative displays, including an “Alice in Wonderland” trompe l’oeil cabinet, and a tiny crystal Dumbo with a giant sparkly feather floating above his head. Both installations were made at Swarovski Kristallwelten in Wattens and transported to London for the event.
A Swarovski crystal Cogsworth, the head butler in “Beauty and the Beast.”
Swarovski’s various jewelry collections, including designs showcasing lab-grown gems, are out in force. There are also special pieces for collectors, including a bling-y gingerbread house with a price tag of 42,000 pounds.
Products exclusive to Selfridges include a set of “Beauty and the Beast” figurines priced from 169 pounds to 580 pounds.
The Corner Shop will run until Jan. 3 and coincides with the bigger Disney holiday collaboration at the store.
As reported, the partnership between the two retail-tainment giants is called “A Most Magical Christmas,” and extends beyond London to Selfridges stores in Manchester, Birmingham and selfridges.com.
The Enchanted Rose from “Beauty and the Beast,” part of an exclusive collection by Swarovski for Selfridges.
The retailer’s Oxford Street flagship in London features a Disney-inspired light and music show every night between 5 and 9 p.m., while every 15 minutes, shoppers see Tinker Bell’s pixie dust trigger a light display that wraps around the building. Tinker Bell is also the star of Selfridges’ Christmas campaign this year.
