The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
Is understated style set to stay in vogue?
A Selfish Mother and a Vogue staffer tell Erica Crompton how choice of car speaks volumes
Vintage-style, understated cars are the mood among the fashion set right now, although to stay on-trend you should invest in something with the wow factor – but a set of suitably chic wheels need not break the bank.
Molly Gunn, an influencer and creative director of the Selfish Mother website, drives a small yet ultra-stylish Abarth 595 Scorpioneoro, a special edition of only 2,000 units built for the UK and Europe.
Gunn says: “It’s really sporty, and I like that it has gold wheels. It’s cool, really little. I don’t have a driveway at the house where I’ve just moved so I wanted a small car that’s easy to park. It’s zippy and sexy.”
Historically Abarth built its own sports cars, invariably using production Fiats and their engines as a basis, but then made a splash by tuning Fiat 500 and 600s from the 1950s into “pocket rockets”. It’s still tweaking Fiat 500s, both stylistically and performance-wise, although these days it is a subsidiary of Fiat, based in Turin.
Limited-edition cars and collaborations that culminate in stylish motors for the fashion set aren’t a new phenomenon, however. A case in point is the 1985 Renault 5 TSE Zandra Rhodes, a three-door hatchback painted metallic pink – a snip for under £6,000 at auction today.
Fiat’s stylish collaborations can be traced back to the launch of the current 500 in 2007. It continues to be made, alongside an all-new electric version. In 2009, the Italian brand collaborated with Barbie on a special Fiat 500 model in pink to mark the pioneering doll’s 50th birthday.
Since then, sales of pink cars have continued to rise. According to the DVLA, there were 22,728 pink cars registered in March 2020 compared with 19,959 four years ago.
The cute, retro-styled Fiat 500 seems to lend itself to collaborations, with style brands such as GQ magazine and Diesel (the fashion brand, not the fuel) doing a take on the vehicle.
The 2009 Barbie edition in pink was followed-up in 2011 with a limited edition Gucci model complete with luxury interior and stripes in the Italian fashion house’s signature green and red against white or black bodywork.
According to Alyson Lowe, British Vogue’s audience growth manager, understated is still “on-point” in motoring right now: “The last car that was my own was a really cool, new Volkswagen Polo – not the ultimate Vogue-ish car but more stylish and understated. But how I imagine the most stylish women, the Parisian type, driving down the Champs-Élysées, is in a really understated car rather than a massive car.
“For my next car though I want to buy something with a bit more of the wow factor. I feel like I deserve it after the year we’ve had – more of a showpiece like an Audi e-tron GT in black.”
Gunn’s diminutive Abarth definitely has the wow factor and it was the gold alloy wheels that helped spur her on to make her purchase.
Her Selfish Mother brand ethos is reflected in her car, too: the idea is to look after yourself so you can look after others.
Says Gunn: “I didn’t get the most practical car – it isn’t exactly a family estate with lots of room for children and kid-paraphernalia.
“But driving it makes me happy, and it ties in with my Selfish Mother brand; I’ll never become ‘mum’s taxi’! But the kids like that it’s quite fast and I like being able to zip off in it – it makes me feel good.”
Lowe’s VW Polo gave her more of a practical edge compared with Gunn’s Abarth, according to the Vogue staffer: “When I first started out working in fashion, as a styling assistant returning garments to fashion houses, my car helped me ferry clothes around and acted like an extended wardrobe.”
It was a “shoe world”, she adds. “My outfits were laid out in the boot of the car for a cocktail party or night out.”
Of course, you need to dress the part, too. At the moment Lowe’s favourite footwear for driving is a bejewelled slipper. She says: “They’re comfortable and easy to wear but you look put together when you get out of the car.”
Aggression on the road is never a problem for Lowe either: “I listen to Radio 3 while I drive and don’t care what anyone thinks – it helps me keep road rage at bay.”
Gunn, on the other hand, is all for the elegant driving glove coupled with some 1980s classics and contemporary anthems on the stereo: “For driving gear, leather driving gloves are quite cool and I like a pair for the colder months. When I’m driving I love to listen to 6 Music and Heart 80s.”
While Gunn’s Fiat has that coveted vintage look, Lowe’s Polo hatchback is more understated, the mood she imagines her Parisian peers projecting.
However Lowe plans to go all-out with her next car. “My dream car would be an Audi R8,” she says. “I love all Porsches too, the way the engines hum is gorgeous. Or a Range Rover Vogue – it would work quite nicely with me being Vogue staff.”
Gunn, meanwhile, loves the smart black interior of the Abarth although she says her dream car is currently a “red Jeep Wrangler”.
Last year Vogue Hong Kong put Naomi Campbell in a blonde wig on the cover of its anniversary issue. The British supermodel was pictured wearing a feathery white Dior get-up and stepping out of a classic RollsRoyce; the Rolls had the black bodywork of Lowe’s favoured Audi R8 and styling that chimed with Gunn’s retrolook Abarth.
While a new Rolls-Royce is one of the more expensive cars on the planet, a 1985 Silver Spirit such as the one Naomi Campbell was photographed in, is as inexpensive as a used Fiat 500 or Polo.
Although repair costs for such a machine could end up being exorbitant, you can find them up for auction on eBay for as little as £8,999.
Small but fast charcoal-to-black cars seem to be what’s in vogue among the fashion set, but to stay ahead of the curve I’d suggest investing in a limited-edition Fiat 500 or perhaps a classic Porsche.
Lowe’s prediction for the future is fast and full-on and she considers Gunn’s natty gold wheels to be staying ahead of the pack.
“I feel that because understated cars have been the mood for a while, after such a long time in lockdown people will soon want to go all-out again,” she says.
“So we will maybe see a return to big and bold in motoring.”