Morning:
8°c
Milan Fashion Week threw up a wealth of trends: some weird and wonderful, others just plain weird. Balloon shoulders? Check. Cropped trousers? Check. Gruffalo style? Er, pardon? Surely you mean Buffalo style, in reference to the Eighties fashion movement spawned by cult stylist Ray Petri? Nope: welcome to the strange and hairy world of gruffalo style.
"The Gruffalo? What's a Gruffalo?" Anyone with children will already be aware. Julia Donaldson and Axel Schaffer's cult book has won prizes galore since its publication in 1999. But while three-year-olds have long been entranced by the Gruffalo's shaggy mane and monsterish demeanour, one would never have expected its appeal to spread all the way to the design houses of Milan.
Yet spread it has - for how else to explain the huge proliferation of tufty, furry raggedness on the catwalks? The autumn collections are always a fur-fest in Milan, but this season they surpassed themselves. But this wasn't the sleek, shaved mink we've seen so much of in current seasons: this was more like armour. Perhaps uncertain times call for a dose of extra cladding. Either way, designers seem to be banking on the notion that in periods of economic turmoil women will want nothing more than to cocoon themselves in fluffy clouds of shagpile. And sod the skintight leather trousers.
At Dolce & Gabbana, a bushy goat's fur coat in vibrant fuchsia set the tone: a ringer for the pale pink one currently being sported front-row by French Vogue's Carine Roitfeld. At Prada, a mink dress, tinted auburn, set a new trend for furry innerwear. And at Marni, shaggy fur gauntlet gloves created the effect of cute little Gruffalo-esque paws.
For those opposed to fur, there were other ways to achieve the look. Mongolian lamb, while not exactly as animal-friendly as denim, is still regarded as less dubious, at least by those who eat lamb, and is a particular favourite with the British fashion pack for this reason. A vast cloud of the stuff made its way down the catwalk at Pucci. Feathers were used to similar effect at Pringle, while at Missoni, a grey looped wool cardigan provided Gruffalo chic of the sort that even PETA would approve.
With Paris fashion week in full swing today, we'll really see whether this is a trend with (big, fat, hairy) legs.
