POD took on another Christmas project (last year we got festive at Melbourne's GPO). We were blown away to be asked by Chadstone to design a new set of decorations and in centre activities. Given how much we love Christmas, how could we resist such a big challenge? After nine months in the making, gorgeous jewels and gems are currently sparkling throughout the centre (but not for much longer given the big day is only 2 more sleeps away). Without a hint of tinsel or a traditional tree in sight, we took inspiration from Milan's annual Salone Immobilare and the premium positioning of Chadstone, with it being The Jewel in the Crown of fashion centres around the country.  POD's positioning statement 'Christmas Sparkles at The Capital' sums it up!

Engaging local talent and production people where possible, we also cooked up an 'Australian' gingerbread house based around a beach bathing box, iced vovos, jam fancies and vintage inspired cookies found in a late 1950's Woman's Weekly magazine. Gingerbread baker, Vicki's Bickies did a beautiful job of making all the biscuits (not literally to size ... as many people have asked!). Sales of Santa photos are up 48% and from all reports "the mum's love it" (we love it that our design is driving sales). Talented Melbourne artist, Beci Orpin, illustrated the 'way too much fun' Face in Place moments and Chadstone gift cards. 'Warren the Wonderboy' applied miles and miles of decal to entry doors, voids and bathroom mirrors. Chas Clarkson produced our design, installed the gems and Santa Set. A super big thank you to a large team of Elves who worked through the night ... for many nights ... to bring some designer bling and Christmas cheer to Chadstone. I thought I'd share just some of the behind the scene snaps of the installation that took place in early November (the pics are a little dark ... and possibly blurry ... after all, they were taken through tired eyes in the wee hours of the morning!)