Keep Your Wig On

The W London strangely does not feel like a W hotel.   Shedding the ‘corporate cool’ skin that the W has been synonymous for innovating, W London surprisingly steers clear  and puts its own stamp on a new direction for the W brand.  What is left is the welcomed detailed design found in its smaller boutique counterparts. From the origami style hidden shower, WC, and quilted leather closets-to the free standing sink that doubles as a desk–the technical room design is impeccable.  The details however, are what steal the show.

Namely, the hidden displays  of the hotel’s cheeky tag line “Keep your Wig On” which is peppered throughout hotel. My favorite is seen on the plates featuring photographs commissioned by Marcel van der Vlugt.  If they remind you of another set of plates used in interior decor, I don’t think its a mistake.  With a double take, you’ll see the images on this plating  are quite naughty. Somehow the gold from the rim have managed to migrate  their way on to the figures coyly posing in the plating…

Of Marcel van der Vlugt Peter Weise notes:

“…is a fine-art, fashion and commercial photographer based in Amsterdam. Once he was finished with his studies at the School for Photography in The Hague he went to Düsseldorf, Germany to assist an advertising photographer. Although his school was largely focused on the technical aspects of photography, Marcel managed to create bodies of work that, although technically perfectly executed, are multi-layered in context. He works on a large-format camera, shooting polaroids to keep control on his final image and to engage the models in the process. The images, autonomous or commercial, are often sensual, poetic and carefully composed. Between 2007 and 2010 he released four monographs. The book A New Day, released in 2008, simulates an imaginary cosmetic clinic where instead of liposuction and nosejobs, the patients get implants of flowers. The blossom is a metaphor for youth, new life and fertility. His work has been exhibited mostly in the Netherlands, but also in other European cities and in the USA. The following images come from the series A New Day, I Like… and Der Kommisar.”

All of this vision is present in this application of  his work to housewares. Vlugt commissions with the W Hotel don’t stop with the London, but his work is featured in the W Paris-Opera, W Bali Seminyak, and W Barcelona.  Each having a unique personality to fit the requisite destination. As for London, you don’t have to be guest to enjoy this special gold rimmed porcelain–you can enjoy the full set on display in the hotel lobby lounge  cleverly displayed in the shape of ( you guessed it) the Union Jack.