We did it first: corduroy
Quirky, cool and definitely not just for geography teachers, corduroy is back and teaching the fashion world a thing or two from the past
Corduroy is back and is one of the hottest trends of this winter. It was even a highlight of recent collections by fashion powerhouses Prada, Mulberry and Marc Jacobs (as worn by celebrity model Kendall Jenner, below). From maxi skirts in caramel to pink corduroy flares, slouching butterscotch jackets to baker-boy hats, corduroy is showing off its versatility like never before. In fact, this summer, The Cords & Co, a Stockholmbased retailer dedicated solely to corduroy fashions, opened a branch in London as the UK appetite for this durable fabric increases. While corduroy has had a tough couple of decades, being considered fusty and out-of-touch since the late Eighties, we’re glad to see the fabric is now reliving the fashion heyday that we remember so well. Striking a ‘cord’? The fabric was initially used for men’s working and sports clothes, before being adopted by the Women’s Land Army in the First World War as suitable for breeches. But it was the Sixties and Seventies when cords took off as a fashion musthave for both sexes. As an anti-establishment symbol, it soon became the uniform of celebrities such as Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. John Lennon was so enamoured with the fabric that he wore it for his wedding to Yoko Ono in 1969! But corduroy quickly proved it could be for anyone and as it became more mainstream it acquired fans such as model Tatum O’Neal and singer Donny Osmond. Jane Birkin, in particular, was a dedicated follower, pairing pale corduroy trousers with a simple white T-shirt, showing off the sophistication that this once shabby fabric could bring to an outfit. Her lover Serge Gainsbourg felt similarly at home in cords and after his death, Jane mused that “he comes back to me as a ghost in his corduroy coat.” Even Princess Diana was a corduroy convert, wearing baggy cords tucked into wellies for a picture taken at Balmoral in May 1981, the year of her engagement to Charles. Meanwhile, on screen, corduroy brought characters to life, often emphasising a nerdy or awkward personality – remember Dustin Hoffman’s tan corduroy jacket in The Graduate? It’s a fabric that does pretty much anything, gets better with age and is cosy in the winter months. We couldn’t be happier that it’s now back on shelves!