When architecture and design studio Charlap Hyman & Herrero was tapped to decorate the New York Edition’s 2023 holiday tree installation, they turned their attention to a humble tentpole of holiday decor: ribbon, or more specifically, ribbon done up in elaborate bows. “We wanted our tree to radiate the gift giving spirit, and the universal signifier of a gift is an object wrapped up in a bow,” says co-founder Adam Charlap-Hyman. “A bow’s presence simply vibrates with unopened potential.” They looped and knotted all sorts of ribbons upon individual branches. Alight with inspiration, the team then hand-painted watercolor elaborate bows on paper ornaments to add to the festive cheer. “We festooned the tree with bows on bows, and thought to ourselves, ‘Finally, enough bows!’” But, is there such a thing?
You can’t escape them. Every holiday party I attend, every time I open Instagram, hell, every girl in lower Manhattan who turns her head, a bow stares back at me. Black velvet, navy grosgrain, red satin. Looped on the stems of glassware, knotted on tree branches, adorning door handles. 2023 has been the year of the bow, so naturally, they’ve infiltrated holiday decor to bookend the annum.
Lexi Lambros
“Charlap Hyman & Herrero’s culture has always been bow affirming!” Charlap Hyman assures me of this natural continuity into the holidays. This fall, the designers launched a collection of plates with Sprezz. The dinnerware features life-like paintings of ribbons catching the light and dancing across their surfaces. Bows taken up residence on many tablescapes, just ask Lucinda Rose Constable of The Table New York. An event stylist and creative director, Constable handles soirees for the likes of Gabriela Hearst, Net-A-Porter, Doen, and more. Ribbons have slithered their way onto the divine spreads at most of these festivities.
I attended a recent holiday gathering thrown by Monica Vinader, for which Constable was a silent aesthetic backer. Inky black ribbon encircled the menu and the stems of our champagne glasses. “This year has definitely seen an influx of bows,” says Constable. “Like anything, decor is also trend-based.” To convert sleek downtown hotspot Raf’s into a holiday-fête-worthy Xanadu, Constable hung ribbons from light fixtures, chandeliers, and wreaths—anything that could host a bow, did. Of course, they needed a holiday wreath for the front door to signal to patrons the magnificence within. There, she simply placed one solitary oversized bow in the style she prefers with long trailing ends—”the height of elegance!”
Courtesy of The Table New York
As is the case with many adult women, the bow harkens back to a childhood mainstay accessory. “As a child, I never went without a ribbon in my hair,” she explains. “It’s a simple gesture that feels very complete to me. A nice finishing touch to an outfit, a gift, or a decoration as the holidays come about.” This holiday season was not a debut for her in the bow department. She first used them years ago for an extravaganza at the Moda Operandi townhouse at the onset of her business.
Despite the larger trend’s DIY nature, ribbon selection is very important to Constable. “There are many levels to quality, and I have different go-to spots for every occasion,” she says. “A double faced velvet is my absolute favorite, followed closely by moiré and grosgrain. Mokuba was the holy grail of ribbons in New York and beyond, before it sadly shuttered during Covid. East Coast Trimming bought up a lot of their stock and also has a wonderful inventory and helpful staff. It’s like a treasure trove in there!” she regales. “If the bows are to be oversized, I will sew them out of taffeta or similar, like we just did for the Raf’s window wreath.” On a much smaller scale, friends of mine have saved ribbons from gifts to decorate the miniature trees in their apartment on the cheap.
Courtesy of The Table New York
“Part of the bow's popularity is its accessibility. Combine that with the rising interest in DIY/sustainable gifts and it makes sense ribbon-adorned items seem to be on every gift guide this year,” says fashion writer and stylist Viv Chen. Thanks to the wave of coquetry submerging TikTok, bows were destined to wash over the holiday season, as well. “Bows have always been a big part of holiday imagery: bows on a pair of bells, bows on wreaths, bows on trees, bows on presents,” she explains. “It's interesting how these traditional holiday aesthetics are fueling the current fashion bow trend to a sort of fever pitch. For example, we see holiday decor getting the coquette treatment (example: pink bows to signal girliness over more traditional red).”
Courtesy of The Table New York
Chen continues to iterate, “In its current cultural context, the bow has become a visual shorthand for connecting with all things ‘girlhood.’” She recently debuted a series linking the bow resurgence to her favorite ribbon-adorned characters of children’s storybooks, like Madeleine, Olivia the Pig, and Chrysanthemum. “Bows are a huge trend right now because we've culturally assigned so much visual meaning to them; it's a symbol that represents our collective mood about feminine expression and girlhood.” As is the case with any trend, there should be a healthy balance between symbolic context and intriguing design or aesthetics. “Bows are classic and will always be visible and relevant in fashion.”
She dubs December “peak-bow,” but does not believe the ubiquity of this trend will doom bows to the tacky post-apex fate of fads like shutter shades and button-front skirts. “Bows (or any trend) are a result of our broader social psychology—which is always changing—so my prediction is that bows will evolve gradually towards knot, rope and tassel imagery,” she explains. “After all, isn't a bow just one variation of a knot?”