Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai opens its festive season with a dramatic fusion of haute couture and holiday tradition, unveiling a bespoke Christmas tree created by Daniel Roseberry for Maison Schiaparelli. The installation anchors the hotel’s festive celebrations with a narrative that reaches back into the maison’s origins, drawing on Elsa Schiaparelli’s lifelong fascination with the cosmos.
This celestial thread has always been part of Schiaparelli’s design language. Elsa Schiaparelli’s uncle, astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, introduced her to the stars as a child, inviting her to look through his telescope and explore the night sky. Those early encounters ultimately inspired her iconic Zodiac collection from Fall/Winter 1938-39, a series defined by cosmic symbolism, constellations, and references to the solar system.
Daniel Roseberry’s festive tree for Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai translates that heritage into a contemporary installation. The structure is composed of 960 golden metal rods radiating from a central axis, recalling the solar rays of the Apollo of Versailles cape, an emblem envisioned by Elsa Schiaparelli for the original Zodiac collection and recently reinterpreted by Roseberry in Haute Couture FW25-26. The rods appear in three finishes: full glitter, mirror-polished gold, and perforated reflective metal that diffuses light in a way that mimics a modern constellation.
At the heart of the installation is its most arresting feature. A monumental red heart, inspired by Roseberry’s Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection, beats from within the tree’s core. The sculptural element is built on a 3D-printed base and animated by a mechanical system calibrated to 60 pulses per minute, mirroring a human heartbeat. Set with 1,458 red Swarovski crystals, the heart merges traditional craftsmanship with contemporary engineering, giving the tree a living, visceral presence.
With this unveiling, Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai positions its festive season at the intersection of luxury design, artistic expression, and sartorial history. The collaboration not only celebrates the holidays but also reinforces Dubai’s role as a global stage for high fashion and innovative cultural installations.
