Art students design festive look for Chic Shopping Villages in Europe

From 15 November visitors to the Collection of Villages will discover an opulent display of oversized illuminated festive gift box sculptures, created by students from some of the most prestigious design schools in Europe. The sculptures will be adorning the stylish open-air boulevards of the nine Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages and will provide the perfect backdrop for visitors to discover sparkling treats from world-leading luxury fashion and homewares brands, as well as quirky pop-up boutiques including the Soho House Group’s spa brand, Cowshed, which can be found at Bicester Village.

Those visiting the traditional festive markets at Ingolstadt Village near Munich and Wertheim Village near Frankfurt, can find the perfect gift and enjoy a unique winter wonderland, with local crafts and magical decorations ready to be enjoyed with plenty of local cuisine and festive flavours.

The inspiration for the Villages’ gift box centrepieces this year is Art Deco – the visual arts and design movement that originated in Europe and roared across the world during the 1920s; its enduring popularity was secured by its modern elegance, abstraction and simplification. Historically, design talent has originated and flourished in Europe and this year the Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages have partnered with Europe’s leading design schools – London’s Royal College of Art, Paris’s famous ESMOD, the European Institute di Design in Milan and Madrid, Ireland’s National College of Art and Design, and Munich’s U5 Academy – to offer a seasonal celebration of Europe’s young creative talent with a competition for students to design the artistic theme of the Villages’ festive campaign – one that interprets the gleaming confidence of Art Deco for the twenty-first century.

The judges are internationally recognised design luminaries – Marcio Alves Roiter from Brazil; Eva Jean Bart-Lorenzotti from the USA; Vadim Yasnogorodsky, Russia; Nicole Schoeni and Steve Leung, Hong Kong; Colin McDowell, UK; Umberta Gnutti Beretta, Italy; Gert Voorjans, Belgium; Michael Von Hassel, Germany; Montse Cuesta, Spain; and Mathilde de L’Ecotais, France. Together they will select the winner of the €9,000 prize. The winner will be announced on 1 December