The guests are arriving at the Montblanc Observatory High-Mountain Library, and someone has been busy with the decorations. For Montblanc’s Happy Holidays campaign, the fictional alpine retreat becomes the setting for a reunion, bringing Rupert Friend, Joey King, Daniel Brühl, Esther McGregor, Waris Ahluwalia, Xin Zhilei, and Jing Boran into its festive orbit.
Photographed by Charlie Gray, the story continues the writing-and-travel world of Let’s Write, now with gift-laden shelves and trees hung with silver tinsel. The journey is part of the invitation. Aboard a wood-paneled train, Waris sits with a letter in hand, surrounded by luggage, his burgundy velvet suit adding another rich surface to the carriage.
At the library, pens emerge from jacket pockets and become gifts in their own right, while leather document cases and illustrated canvas bags suggest arrivals from further afield. The travel motif even reaches the presents, with drawings of airplanes and mountain scenery turning accessories into miniature souvenirs of Montblanc’s imaginary destination. Beneath the elaborate staging is a recognizable holiday impulse, the wish to cross a distance, choose something personal, and put a few words of your own beside it.
Montblanc Happy Holidays Campaign
The alpine journey began with Montblanc’s Let’s Write campaign with Wes Anderson, which placed writing instruments and leather travel companions aboard a vintage train.
