Cover Holiday wreaths by Rajo Laurel
Holiday wreaths by Rajo Laurel
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An iconic designer’s take on holiday wreaths with form and foliage becomes a study in taste and cultural expression
When fashion designer Rajo Laurel posted the images on his Instagram account, I paused almost involuntarily. There was something compelling about the forms: structured yet organic, festive yet restrained, and I, of course, commented at once. He mentioned, quite casually, in his usual joyful demeanour, that he had fashioned them himself. I cannot pretend I was surprised, as Laurel has long demonstrated a facility for turning material into meaning. These wreaths provided further evidence of a sensibility both intuitive and highly trained.
What interested me first was how these arrangements made use of the dress forms. Instead of treating them as mere supports, he allowed them to become part of the composition. One wreath encircled the torso: evergreen branches, berried sprigs and subtle tonal variations creating the impression of a garment cut from nature rather than fabric. The second was more architectural, a generous sweep of long, glossy foliage draped across the shoulders, anchored by a dramatic red-and-gold bow that fell in clean, weighted folds. Together, they resembled studies in silhouette, almost as if he were testing volumes for a new collection, only his textiles were branches, and his embellishments were berries.
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Above Beautiful expressions of form and foliage
Above Laurel creates wreaths full of joy
Beautiful expressions of form and foliage
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In examining them more closely, I found that the craftsmanship spoke to a larger cultural logic. The Philippines is known for a holiday season that extends far beyond the Western temporal frame, an environment in which ornament becomes both a social cue and an aesthetic performance. Yet what Laurel produced here diverged from the usual excess. There was control in his selections, an elegance in the scale, and a curiosity about how form might behave when guided by botanical, rather than sartorial, rules. In this sense, the wreaths function not merely as festive displays but as small exercises in material thinking.
One might consider these objects through the lens of cultural production: what does it mean for a designer, deeply embedded in the fashion industry, to temporarily shift into another medium while maintaining the discipline of his primary practice? Laurel’s approach demonstrates a kind of methodological consistency. The wreath on the marble counter, for instance, is compact but assertive, a conical shape reminiscent of a stylised tree, adorned with red berries and metallic leaves that catch the light without descending into pastiche. It is, in effect, a miniature study in proportion. The bow crowning it introduces a vertical emphasis, recalling how designers often guide the eye along a garment’s line.
See also: At BYS Fashion Week, Rajo Laurel invents a new language for menswear
Above A more modern take on the traditional wreath
Above Beautifully adorned bustforms
A more modern take on the traditional wreath
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Another wreath, installed above the RAJO sign, is more environmentally friendly in nature. The foliage frames the signage almost like a pediment, softening the rigidity of the architecture it adorns. The large red bow, its diamond pattern echoing traditional festive motifs without directly quoting them, lends a ceremonial quality. It is a reminder that design often alters not just surfaces but the behaviours and expectations surrounding them.
It is this ability to move between disciplines that I find most compelling. Laurel’s wreaths illustrate how creative labour operates across borders, not only geographic but conceptual. They reveal how making can be both intimate and public, how ornament can carry cultural weight and how the act of crafting something by hand enables a deeper engagement with one’s surroundings. What emerges is less a seasonal flourish and more a reflection on authorship: a demonstration that taste is not performed but embodied, and that even the simplest of objects can become sites of inquiry when approached with seriousness and imagination.
Above Laurel also made small trees
Above Modernist interpretation of the traditional practice of wreaths
Laurel also made small trees
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For me, encountering these pieces online felt akin to observing a quiet thesis in visual form: that beauty, when pursued thoughtfully, need not announce itself loudly. It simply asserts its presence: modestly, precisely and with an intelligence that rewards sustained attention.
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