Harrods of London continue to celebrate 007 with window displays

With over a million sq ft devoted to decadence and – some say – disgraceful delights, Harrods is justly one of the world’s most famous department stores. Fittingly, it is working with one of the world’s most famous movie icons: James Bond - reports The Star.

The last time Harrods collaborated with James Bond was in 2002 with Die Another Day. Then, it gave a measly two windows to the movie, one for Bond’s Aston Martin V12 Vanquish and another for a green Jaguar XKR driven by the villain General Zao.



This time around, Harrods has decked out all its 72 road frontage windows with scenes and products from Casino Royale.

Harrods’ Christmas windows have always been a study in over-the-top presentation, and more so this Christmas as Casino Royale mania takes over the store. Traffic literally grinds to a crawl these days as drivers slow down to marvel at the extravagant window displays, on till Dec 24.



The motif that links all the windows, as big as 12ft x 7ft (3.6m x 2m), are the gambling chips. Larger than life (like everything else in the movie), each chip is about the size of an Aston Martin wheel. Denominated in dollars, the chips cast a golden spell, popping up everywhere in the materialistic world that is James Bond’s.

Most windows also include plasma TVs, which screen snippets from the movie.



The main appeal is in the actual props, accessories and clothes used in Casino Royale. Some windows resemble a movie set, including one that faithfully replicates a gaming table and the interior of the Sunseeker yacht featured in the Bond movie. Other lifestyle products include Omega watches, Turnbull & Asser shirts, Sony electronics goods, La Perla lingerie, Bolinger champagne, Brioni suits, John Lobb shoes, and Persol sunglasses.

If you are smitten by the Bond bug, you can get them all at Harrods.




There is a real Aston Martin DBS, the official James Bond car which came to such a fiery end in the latest movie. The Aston display is Harrods’ most photographed window, as passers-by, from suits to school kids, stop in their tracks to swoon and sigh over the mean machine.

The Aston Martin DBS will be available for sale only in January next year.

Of course, there are girls galore, or it just wouldn’t be James Bond. Most of the mannequins are in the obligatory reclining, crawling or horizontal position, as befit those having a liaison with someone with a license to thrill and kill.

The costumes are the originals worn by Eva Green and Caterina Murino, the most breathtaking being the barely-there, skimpy yellow gown by Roberto Cavalli.

The male mannequins, however, seem far too young and pretty-boy to be mistaken for Bond, though the wigs are all blonde in deference to Daniel Craig, the first blonde in the history of the world’s best-selling movie series.

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