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| Liberty |
Many retailers are recruiting new staff to cope with the busiest time of the year and the window dressers push their creativity to the limit in order to lure customers into the shop floor.
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| Fortnum and Mason |
I went to the most well-known shopping destinations in London - the department stores - where everything becomes more alive than ever, it feels like a city within the city, it's all about movement, lights and music and money just flows into the tills.
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| Selfridges |
The first connection point with potential customers is the window display, that's why London's department stores invest a huge budget on it, sourcing the best professionals who come up with the most brilliant ideas.
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| Harrods |
So I joined all the tourists and took pictures of the best windows displays for Christmas, when everyone spends huge amounts of money on gifts, so much so that some people may wonder if it has all become just a big commerce.
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| Harvey Nichols |
Is Christmas dead? Are families collapsing? For lots of Londoners, Christmas is more about having drinks with their mates than about spending time with family members. Why do we give each other's gifts if we probably ignore each other during most of the year?
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| Selfridges |
Love is the essence of the Christmas spirit, it doesn't matter if you're religious or not. Is love dead? I don't think so, love will never die, families may be facing challenging times with high divorce rates but they're also opening up to more inclusive models embracing gay couples and the adoption process is being reviewed.
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| Fortnum and Mason |
I believe in a brighter future of mutual acceptance and of a time when people are mature enough to realise that being financially independent does not mean emotionally independent and that love requires effort and a giving attitude, it's not about who loves me but about how I love others.
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| Harrods |
But I'm getting off track, the point is, Christmas can be a multitude of transactions across different parts of the world, particularly in the West, but at least once a year people get out of their cocoons, practicing generosity and thinking of others.
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| Selfridges |
It may be fuelled by advertising and amazingly beautiful window displays but when you see all the people moving around the busy department stores, this time, they have someone else in their mind.
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| Harrods |
If you're in London during the Christmas period, be inspired by the creativity on the window displays and the street lights! This is a time when the city gets incredibly 'dressed up' reminding me of an old fashion song: Street Life.
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| Oxford Street |