One thing we can all agree on is that getting out of bed when you’re snuggled up and warm is one of the worst things we have to do on a daily basis. Perhaps you hit snooze more than you should. Or consider calling your boss to tell them, “sorry, I can’t make it into work today as unfortunately I am snug as a bug in a rug right now.”
Thankfully, this season, fashion has a stylish solution to this age-old problem. Instead of leaving your bed to go to work, why not take it with you? On the AW23 menswear runways, designers have been getting under the covers, elevating the humble, everyday pillow from a bedtime essential to the season’s must-have accessory.
At JW Anderson, for instance, models clutched full-size pillows sewn into t-shirts and carried plastic-covered pillows at their sides like handbags. These followed the lighthearted, humorous and surreal line of thought that Jonathan Anderson has been pursuing in recent seasons, while also offering a casual, softer counterpoint to the fetishistic buckled leather coats and elongated tailoring seen elsewhere in the collection.
Meanwhile, at Prada, cocooned jackets, jumpers and vests were reshaped from soft down pillows for a cosy, yet uncanny impact. Even the show invitations themselves arrived on white pillows, speaking to the calm simplicity of a collection that explored clothes rooted in reality. The pillowed pieces in the collection added a playful contrast to the architectural tailoring and hulking MA-1 bombers. If this collection was dominated by workwear, the cushiony attire offered more relaxed options for clock-out time.
If you think about it, the pillow really is the perfect fashion week accessory. Between the late nights and travelling, anything that aids a power nap is a sweet blessing. Whether you want to get a quick five-minutes shut eye between meetings or nod off in the Uber home from a party, having a pillow at hand means you can slip off into a slumber at any time.
That is if you even want to go out at all. In recent seasons, the smart tailoring of traditional menswear has come undone as the cosy boy comes to claim the crown. Staying in is officially chic. Bringing literal bedding onto the runway is a natural progression from grey sweatpants and slouchy hoodies. Blame it on working from home or rising anti-work sentiments, but being lazy is finally the height of sophistication. We won!
However, riffs on bedding aren’t new. Let us not snooze on fashion’s OG pillow princes and princesses. In 1999, Maison Martin Margiela collaborated with Italian duvet and bedding manufacturer Featherlite to create their iconic 100% down feather coats. They became a Y2K hit among fashionable New Yorkers braving the city’s icy winters. Meanwhile, Viktor & Rolf’s endlessly memeable 2005 collection, Bedtime Story, went even further, ensconcing models in luxurious duvets with lace trimmed pillows extending from collars. Ostensibly, the looks allowed the wearer to take their bed with them wherever they went.
For all the talk of beauty sleep, fashion is often guilty of romanticising exhaustion, be it the thrill of late night parties or long working hours. It’s about time designers started glamorising rest instead. After all, what could possibly be more decadent than taking your bed with you everywhere you go? Sweet dreams!
Credits
Images courtesy of Spotlight