Tatiana Kharchylava is the creative mind behind some of the most visually arresting façades and immersive events in the luxury hospitality world. As Creative Director of The Birley Clubs – which includes exclusive London locations Annabel’s, Mark’s Club, George and Harry’s Bar – she is responsible for transforming historic spaces into cinematic worlds that mesmerise private members and global media alike.
From jaw-dropping façades on Berkeley Square to immersive themed worlds that captivate London’s most exclusive private members, Kharchylava is the visionary force behind the magic of The Birley Clubs. As Creative Director, she designs and delivers some of the most talked-about luxury events and installations in the world – none more anticipated than Annabel’s annual Christmas façade, now a firmly established highlight of London’s festive calendar.
Behind the spectacle, Tatiana also juggles the demands of an intensely creative role with motherhood, crediting family as both her grounding force and her greatest motivation. In this Culturalee Innovators interview, she reflects on a childhood shaped by imagination rather than material wealth, the resourcefulness that defines her creative process, and the growing pressure to outdo herself year after year, including the question on everyone’s lips: how will she ever top the spectacular Narnia-inspired festive façade of 2026?
In this interview with Culturalee Innovators, Tatiana reveals how a childhood rich in love and imagination shaped her fearless creativity, her obsession with detail, her refusal to ever play it safe and plans for a new Annabel’s Club in New York City.
You make an extraordinary role look effortless. As Creative Director of The Birley Clubs, and a mother of three, you juggle an immense creative and operational workload with apparent ease. How do you structure your days to balance family life with leading the creative vision for the entire group, and what mindset helps you stay grounded amid such scale?
When my children were little, I really dedicated my life to my kids. They’re grown up now, so they don’t need me as much. But also, my kids really help me in my job because they’re very creative and I discuss a lot with them. One of them is at University, one is working for Birley Clubs and my other son is working as well.
I started to work eight years ago for Birley Clubs, so at that point my children were not really small kids. But the job is quite intense, so it’s difficult to switch off and even when I’m at home I’m always coming up with new ideas. We all live together – the children are all still living in my house. They are very supportive, they help me with my work, and I ask them about my ideas because they are the people who can tell me the truth.
I have a lot of experience now, so the work becomes a bit easier. Every time we do a new job we understand more about the technical or engineering aspects for example. The technicalities of working on one of the Annabel’s facades is a lot – the weight alone and the restrictions on what we are allowed to do really come into it. But what feels, at times, like an impossible task at some stages always seems to work out for the best.
Your creative authority feels instinctive yet deeply refined. How did your training and early career shape the way you approach large-scale creative direction today, and which experiences most prepared you for overseeing something as complex and constantly evolving as Annabel’s?
I ran my own events company before working for Birley Clubs, but the events I used to do weren’t really thematic, so it became a bit repetitive, and I was looking for a bigger challenge. I have much more creativity with this role. Even the time limit sometimes pushes me to create something new.
At Birley Clubs we do between 150-200 events a year, from small talks to the biggest event, which is Halloween, and then the Christmas façade. For Halloween we dress up around 180 staff with hair, makeup and costume, and we transform the club completely in 24 hours so that it’s almost unrecognisable. It becomes a theatrical, immersive experience. I have the experience from running my events company of knowing all the suppliers, how to put an event together and how to make things work logistically. It also takes an army to pull that one off – my team are amazing on the ground.
Annabel’s has become a visual Universe in its own right. From the Narnia-inspired Christmas façade last winter to immersive seasonal transformations, which moments at Annabel’s make you most proud?
I have the most amazing children, and I feel most proud of being a mother to my boys. When I think about my work, I don’t really feel proud, because I’m a perfectionist and I’m never 100% satisfied.
The detailing at Annabel’s – from tablescapes to interiors – is exquisitely considered. What are you planning for Easter?
Easter is one of my favourite events and we are working on tablescapes inspired by Faberge eggs. It’s very luxurious. What I’m really excited about is our plan to open an Annabel’s Club in New York, so I’m thinking about what we can do there next. That feels like the big next project.
We are also planning a dinner and talk in collaboration with the V&A about their Schiaperelli exhibition. They will talk about the show prior to the opening, so our members will have an insight before visiting the exhibition. When we do brand collaborations it’s usually linked to an art theme, for example last year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Surrealism with events at the club. This year we will have a Dale Chihuly exhibition in the club ahead of the reveal of his glass sculptures on the Grand Canal in Venice during la Biennale di Venezia. We are also planning artist events at George during Frieze, and I’m planning a series of Annabel’s Classics events with classical musicians.
Your work feels cinematic in scale and emotion. You’ve spoken about visualising stories as entire worlds from a very young age when your mother would read you stories and you visualised movies of the story in your mind. Did you ever imagine becoming a film director, and do you see the productions you create at Annabel’s, such as Halloween, Christmas, and over 200 events a year, as a form of live filmmaking, with Annabel’s as the ever-changing set?
I thought about being a film director when I was a child. But I was born in the Soviet Union and I was never able to tell my parents this was what I wanted to do. I just liked to visualise the different worlds.
When I was a child, every time I read a book, I would think how to make it into a film or translate it into real life. It’s hard to explain but I knew exactly how a book would work as a film. So, a lot of my skill for visualisation comes from childhood. Even when I did my kids’ parties, I would think about the sound, lighting and costumes, and I would cast actors. I always had a different approach to what existed. It had to be immersive and elevated.
Sometimes I wonder if the Annabel’s facades look a bit childlike, because they are often inspired by my childhood memories. I remember doing the gingerbread house façade where I used Swarovski crystals and approached them to collaborate, that inspiration came from my childhood and children’s stories, memories and experiences. Some people asked me last year ‘Why Narnia’, and I said because it’s magical, it’s Christmas and I try to create something new and different when I do the facades. And Christmas always needs to feature magic in some way.
When I was a child, every time I read a book, I would think how to make it into a film or translate it into real life. It’s hard to explain but I knew exactly how a book would work as a film. So, a lot of my skill for visualisation comes from childhood.”
Tatiana Kharchylava
