Fashion fluff
A tiny book has just landed on my desk, titled ZooBorns: The cutest baby animals from zoos around the world! (Their exclamation mark.) (Published by Constable, on 14 October 2010, £8.99.) The cover features a blue-eyed, fluffy tiger cub. Inside are photos of more, similarly fleecy, mini versions of animals we know and love: as well as the baby tigers, there is Menari, the Sumatran Orangutan; Matari, the common wombat (common as in fashion common?); and a pair of Tawny Frogmouth owls, named Sawyer and Hoover, who appear particularly downy and lovable.
Why have I been sent this book? As the Fashion and Beauty Director for a leading woman's online magazine, I can only imagine its press office is aiming for a style angle. So here goes: There is unmissably, this season, a prevalent trend for the soft, the cuddly, the shag-piled. Stella McCartney's sandy coloured angora boyfriend cardigan, Céline's snow white curly-haired cape (see picture), or Chanel’s yeti boots are a few examples which come to mind. Not to mention the plethora of fuzzy jumpers which are flooding the shops right now, such as ACNE's khaki green version, which, incidentally, I have been eyeing for some time.
So what does it all mean? Well, I'm no philosopher - not even of the armchair variety - but pushed to hazard a guess I would say that the recession has brought a need for comfort, familiarity and cosiness. We want to feel a warm embrace, and if clothes can provide this service, then be damned with all those minis and dominatrix heels of yesterseason. An extension of this, of course, is the current vogue for a zaftig cleavage, most recently seen at London Fashion Week in the form of Kelly Brook and Abbey Clancy on the Giles runway.
So there you have it: my take on this season's fluffy trend, as inspired by The Cutest Baby Animals From Around the World! I hope this satisfies the publishers of ZooBorns; I would hate to let the little critters down.
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