Vivienne Westwood designs fan for Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair

Nestled in the heart of Mayfair’s Hanover Square, the new Mandarin Oriental sits just across from 44 Conduit Street, the Mayfair home of the Vivienne Westwood boutique. Through a shared love of the historic area, one of London’s finest and oldest squares, Mandarin Oriental collaborated with the house of Vivienne Westwood to design a handcrafted fan to illustrate this elegant square and create a signature emblem to inform the individuality of the new Mandarin Oriental hotel.

The inspiration for the fan started with the historic Square, named in honour of George I, the Elector of Hanover. The square was laid out in the late 1710s and was originally lined with fine terraced houses, occupied by some of London’s most celebrated society figures. Our senior designer, Alex Krenn explains, “The design of the fan sees two silhouettes meeting, dancing. Dramatic – well dressed – mysterious, perhaps friends meeting in the afternoon, perhaps glamorous lovers. The two figures are inspired by traditional paper cut-outs and Vivienne Westwood campaigns. The silhouettes are framed on a hand drawing of the square, turned on its head. Vivienne did this in the early years, in her Worlds End shop, with an image of Piccadilly Circus upside down.”