Discover how we created the Lulu Christmas trees at London’s iconic 5-star hotel
This winter, the world of Lulu Guinness steps inside The Goring - London’s grand hotel with impeccable manners and a mischievous streak - for a Christmas collaboration that brings together two very British icons.
Working with Makerie Studio, Lulu has created two spectacularly imaginative Christmas trees: London Calling and In Bloom. In reception, London Calling twinkles with a winding scarlet ribbon, glowing miniature post-boxes and phone boxes, and Lulu’s signature red lips. Around the corner, In Bloom creates a festive garden of pinks, yellows and deep burgundies, complete with Lulu’s florist baskets and even a few of The Goring’s beloved sheep nestled beneath the branches.
Each decoration - from tiny telephone booths to clusters of winter blooms - was handcrafted in England by Makerie Studio using only paper and card. The result is a pair of trees that feel both nostalgic and delightfully unexpected: a celebration of humour, craftsmanship and true British charm.
Behind the Magic With Makerie Studio
We spoke to Joy, the creative force behind the handcrafted paper decorations, to find out how these whimsical trees came to life.
What was the process of making the decorations from concept to completion?
"Luckily Set Designer Lauren Taylor did so much of the initial hard work! She set the intention for each look, which meant I could focus on working out the right scale and creating the flat patterns - a bit like solving a puzzle. Once the artwork files were ready, they were sent to a big plotting machine to cut everything from carefully selected papers.
Arriving at The Goring on installation day with boxes of flowers and light-fitted telephone booths was exciting. Tucking and tying all the decorations into the trees as a little team - with Lauren’s drawings close to hand - meant everything came together pretty quickly.”
Which Lulu Collectible was your favourite to recreate, and why?
“This is tricky… each one was fun! But probably the light Flower Pot bag with red roses. It was simple, pretty and elegant with smooth iridescent paper for the petals. Then I found myself pulling it apart to add chunky red glitter - completely unplanned - making a big, happy, sparkly mess. It healed some part of my inner child. So yes, maybe that one.”
What materials or techniques did you use that made this project unique?
"We don’t usually use red and black glitter paper, or velvet flocked sheets .. because.. well.. when? We probably stay away from making too much with weird surface paper because usually it’s really hard to put through our cutting machines or predict what it will do. But it was great to play with them and found lots of workarounds. We managed to use a fair bit throughout even just as edging or accent, which added extra depths of texture or sparkle. I’ve also never produced 50 meters of wide paper ribbon before! Each tree needed about 20-25 meters and we created them from stripped large sheets rather than a roll, so that we could have the exact colours and finish that we wanted."
