Gay designer Christian Cowan adds some glitter to London at Soho's House of Sparkle
Christian Cowan partners with booking.com to create a unique overnight experience in the heart of London's Soho.
Words: Markus Bidaux
The House of Sparkle is the brainchild of designer Christian Cowan who partnered with booking.com to decorate a 2,000-square-foot townhouse on Soho's Greek Street.
Cowan, who has dressed the likes of Cardi B, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, decked the house out in 100kg of sustainable glitter, 36,000 gold sequins, 2 kilometres of metallic streamers and 52,000 mirror ball facets.
Attitude spoke with Cowan about his vivacious house that will be available to rent for £99 for three nights only in December...
How did you find yourself involved in the House of Sparkle?
I first heard of booking.com when I would book holidays with my friends in university. Then they reached out to me for some style tips for holiday travellers, and then we hit it off and that snowballed into this much larger concept. When they approached me about the idea I jumped at it. To design a space like this was so much fun and to partner with a company that helps take people around the world and be inspired was the perfect match.
What was your inspiration for the House of Sparkle?
I wanted it to be the marriage of both of our brands, the functionality, convenience and fun of booking.com, with the glitter, sparkle and pop culture feel of Christian Cowan. So when it came to each room I wanted to reflect a different aspect of my collections and iconic pieces, you have floors inspired by my album cover look I did for Cardi B, and disco rooms which reflect the fun ethos of the brand. There's lots to see!
How important is Instagram-ability when you are designing?
It's vital, I grew up a child of the internet. So I think I might be naturally 'wired' to design for the internet. I always think, would I stop scrolling for this, would I want to know more about this and click on this? So hopefully, people click!
Is there such a thing as too much glitter?
You have dressed Beyoncé, Cardi B and Lady Gaga. Which room in the House of Sparkle do you think each one is best suited to and why?
Well, Cardi would have to be our checkerboard entrance! Lady Gaga the dipped in pink glitter room! And Beyoncé is so regal it would give her the gold room!
If you were asked to decorate another house what would be the theme and what city would you choose?
I'd love, love, love to do one in Shanghai. I'd make it a combination of the tradition of British culture and the neon metropolis that is the sky-scraping buildings of Shanghai. Think English country house meets neon city.
It's almost 2019, what will be your New Year's Resolution?
To travel more!
Who would you most like to dress in the new year?
Madonna is top of my list!
Priced at £99 per night, this unique, overnight experience is available for just three x1 night stays (x2 people per night) on the 7th, 8th and 9th December.
Located at 19 Greek Street, London, W1D 4DT the House of Sparkle will open bookings for its 7 December stay on 22 November at 10 a.m. GMT, with the stays for 8 and 9 December availability being released at 10 a.m. GMT on the 27 November and 3 December respectively.
For more information and to book this unique experience, visit booking.com
House of Sparkle
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