V&A tree ‘more of a shrine to fashion than Christmas’
A Gown-shaped Christmas tree unveiled by the V&A Museum has been branded a “shrine to fashion”.
Stephen Bayley, chairman of the Royal Fine Arts Commission Trust, said the installation showed the museum was “in thrall” to the fashion industry.
Created by Korean fashion designer Sohee Park, known as Miss Sohee, the tree “reimagines” the traditional Christmas conifer as an 11ft white couture gown, featuring a crepe-de-chine inner and silk chiffon cape embellished with Swarovski crystals.
Every Christmas, the museum commissions a tree for its main entrance.
Previous trees have been created by artists and designers including Alexander Mcqueen, Es Devlin and Jasper Conran. But where former designs have held true to the Christmas tree concept, experts warn that this year’s installation may puzzle some visitors.
‘The V&A was founded to improve the public taste, but I wonder whether this year it will just confuse it’
Mr Bayley said: “The V&A was founded to improve the public taste, but I wonder whether this year it will just confuse it.”
The author, who along with designer Terence Conran created the celebrated Boilerhouse Project which popularised the V&A in the 1980s, added: “This cocktail of chiffon, crepe de chine and Swarovski crystals suggest to me that the V&A is too in thrall to fashion.
“It’s more a shrine to the fashion business than it is to Christmas.”
Founded in the 1850s, the V&A describes itself as “the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects”.
However, Bayley is concerned that in recent years its focus has shifted towards prioritising “frocks”.
He suggests that this may be due to the influence of Sir Nicholas Coleridge, the mastermind behind Condé Nast, who has chaired the museum’s board of trustees since 2015.
Miss Sohee said: “When I think of Christmas, it evokes nostalgia, angelic shades of white and familial warmth.”
The V&A has been asked to comment.