Couturier David Laport and The Pulitzer Hotel Join Forces for This Years Christmas Tree

Beanie Stolper: You’ve brought your couture language into the Pulitzer Hotel, a space with history and gravitas, but this Christmas tree lives in public, anyone can approach, touch, and interpret it. Does that loss of control excite you or unsettle you?
David Laport: I find it exciting! Couture is normally very controlled, very intimate, and sometimes not meant for everyone to touch. But this tree lives right in the middle of Pulitzer Garden, where anyone can approach it, touch it, and interpret it. The idea that the work gets to live its own life is something I really love.

• BS: Couture is so much about precision and the single wearer, uniqueness and creating something so personal. What did it shift in you to design something meant to be witnessed en masse?
  DL: I had to let go of the idea of “the single wearer” and think more in terms of atmosphere and scale. But that gave me a sense of freedom: my sculptural forms could suddenly open up and take up space in a completely different way.
  

BS: You work between Amsterdam and New York which are two cities that are constantly buzzing with innovation, the next thing and an obsession with reinvention. Did this project make you think differently about legacy, especially your own?
DL: Yes, definitely. Those two cities keep me constantly moving, but Pulitzer Amsterdam is so timeless and so distinctly Amsterdam. It feels special to create something exciting in my own city.

• • BS: If this tree becomes part of someone’s personal holiday memory, almost a private tradition, does that level of intimacy change how you think about the responsibility of design?
    DL: I think that idea is beautiful. If the ornaments or the tree become part of someone’s tradition, it doesn’t feel like pressure, it feels like an honor. You’re adding something small to someone’s warm personal moment.

• BS: The textiles are hand embroidered and hyper tactile. Do you think people can feel craftsmanship without touching it, or is part of the work about resisting that instinct? Does the stillness reveal something new about your materials?
  DL: I hope so. The details and embroidery are literally translated from my couture pieces. If you put the dress next to the ornament, you can see it one-to-one. That connection to the handwork is still very present, even without touching.

• BS: Your materials often behave unpredictably yet beautifully, folding, springing, collapsing. Did you allow the tree’s structure to dictate anything?
  DL: Absolutely. My materials always have a mind of their own. The tree gave me a strong base that the textiles could move around. It’s a completely different way of working in 3-D. We even made a test model of the tree; my team and I decorated a Christmas tree in the park here in the city as a trial run. That was quite fun!

• BS: These 3-D textiles react to light in such a cinematic way. Did you think about how Amsterdam’s winter gloom versus the Pulitzer’s warm interior glow would change the piece’s mood?
  DL: Yes, that contrast was really interesting to me. In the evening, the color becomes softer and more poetic; during the day, it gets more glittery, really festive and sparkling.

• BS: What’s the one ornament or detail you return to every year for your own Christmas tree, your personal non-negotiable?
  DL: At home I always have a “nothing” tree, lots of almost-transparent glass balls that look like soap bubbles.

• BS: Designers often create magic for others; however, what does the festive period look like in your own home? What’s the feel of your personal Christmas tree: couture-level curation, or the kind of tiny but perfect tree that fills a room with the best smell imaginable?
  DL: For me it’s all about atmosphere. I usually have a big tree that smells incredible and fills the whole room. Not overly curated, light and minimal. My own work is often expressive enough already!