May 4, 2012

Jean-Paul Gaultier Christmas Tree Given Away in Prize Draw

A Christmas tree, specially designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier for a prize draw at the International Frankfurt Fair, was won by Verity Russell, an employee of Value Retail, developers and operators of the “Chic Outlet Shopping” Villages in Europe and China. The Christmas tree was won at Christmasworld, the leading international trade fair for festive decorations in Frankfurt am Main. There, it was presented by Gaultier as part of the project ‘Les Sapins de Noel & Christmasworld’ and offered in the prize draw.

Verity Russell is a Team Assistant in the Department of Visual Merchandising at Value Retail, who operate luxury outlet shopping villages. Together with her manager, Michael Black, she attended the fair at the end of January on a buying trip and to assess trends in festive decoration, which included shop lighting. “We are great fans of Christmasworld and have been coming back to Frankfurt again and again for ten years,” says Black.

This year, the organisers of Christmasworld provided a very particular highlight. French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier presented his designer Christmas tree, made of fine green silk threads, in person at the event. Verity Russell was also there in person as its creator climbed onto the rostrum. “It really was a great attraction! Gaultier’s appearance was greeted with hundreds of flashing lights and enthusiastic applause.” During Christmasworld, visitors and exhibitors were given the opportunity to win the tree in a raffle. “I never thought that I might be the one to win it,” said Russell. The home for the tree will be one of the Collection of “Chic Outlet Shopping” Villages in Europe or it will be donated to a charity.”

Messe Frankfurt hands over generous donation to the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation

The project in Frankfurt harks back to collaboration between Christmasworld and the Parisian “Association Les Sapins de Noël des Créateurs”. For 16 years, some of the big names from the worlds of fashion, architecture and design have turned their talents to the service of charity and each created their own interpretation of the Christmas tree. Every year during Advent, these are auctioned at a charity gala in Paris for a good cause. As the new main sponsor of the event, Christmasworld has also become actively involved in charity work and is supporting the children’s’ aid foundation ‘L’enfant @ l’hôpital’, initiated by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy with a donation of, altogether, € 10,000. Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, handed over the cheque on the first weekend of March in Paris to the General Secretary of the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation, Cléa Martinet, and to Anne Dunoyer de Ségonzac, President of the Association ‘Enfant@l’hôpital’. He was accompanied by Marie-Christiane Marek, President of the Association ‘Les Sapins de Noël des Créateurs’ and Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt France.