Airport style rarely involves fashion trends. The practicality of dressing for a flight isn’t often simpatico with the aspirational looks we see on catwalks and red carpets. But there is one notable exception – duvet coats.
Duvet dressing is an aesthetic that has become almost ubiquitous in recent years. Its most famous manifestation is, of course, the duvet coat – a padded longline style that hits the mid calf. You’ll have seen it everywhere – on mums doing the school run; twenty-somethings on the way to brunch; and off-duty fashion editors.
Often when something becomes hugely popular, it risks becoming passé, but – while more tailored outerwear is definitely around the corner – duvet dressing is never more useful than now, the coldest months of the year when clothes with almost-in-bed energy feel not only relevant, but of peak utility. The fashion industry might be prepping us for spring, but right now what you really need is a well insulated, warm hug of a coat that has your back until it starts to get warmer. In terms of airport style, it’s perfect – practical, easy-to-wear and won’t crease when you shove it into your suitcase on arrival at your destination. It’s essentially a sleeping bag that you can bring onto the plane. No matter how miserly Easyjet gets, they can’t stop you bringing a coat on board.
Every few years, fashion goes big on this idea, which is why it’s still a worthy investment. Designers turn something cosy into something to be seen in, and the world’s most stylish follow suit – because who doesn’t like to be comfortable? It goes way back: Oscar Wilde was wearing a dressing gown outside of the house in the 1890s, closely followed by Noel Coward. Marlene Dietrich was an early pioneer of silk pyjamas as outerwear in the 1930s. There is something deliciously irreverent about taking clothes intended for the bedroom into the outside world.
Post-pandemic, longline puffers and quilted coats blew up in a big way. Unable to shift the sartorial comfort we had all enjoyed during lockdown, cocooning outerwear felt like a good half-way point as we remerged into the world again. Carrie Bradshaw – always one to fully commit to a look no matter how impractical – dipped in, wearing a floor-length quilted nylon Moncler ballgown to brave a snowstorm in a 2023 episode of And Just Like That. The autumn/winter 2024-25 shows gave us cloud-like, padded coats via Rochas, Preen and Jason Wu, and Vogue decried the coat of the season to be a bathrobe, a look favoured by Rihanna and Angelina Jolie.
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The important thing to remember is that duvet style has staying power. For spring the look will evolve to become voluminous, inflated shapes as seen at Comme des Garçons (of course), Alaïa and Khaite. The more wearable incarnations will manifest themselves in the return of the divisive bubble hem, led by Self-Portrait and Chloé, and as quilted jackets, perfect for throwing over jeans – like the below from Whistles. For now though, the high street continues to invest in duvet coats – Arket’s enduringly popular midi-length puffer has been repeatedly restocked after selling out on multiple occasions. M&S, a brand currently enjoying a fashion renaissance, launched the thermowarmth hooded longline ‘duvet coat’, which has been such a success that it’s now only available in one of four colours – and even then in limited sizes. Uniqlo has an entire collection of down outerwear of varying lengths and colours perfect for every occasion.
Short quilted coat, £155, Whistles
The duvet coat might not be brand new, but it’s not going anywhere either. Every now and again the fashion industry tries to tell the public that a certain style is now over and the people scoff. It happened with the floral midi dress and I’m sure I’ll attend a wedding this year where at least two guests will be wearing one. It happened with Adidas sambas; despite Rishi Sunak’s attempt to see them into the fashion backwater, shoppers continued to wear them because they’re great trainers. The same goes here and the people have spoken; the duvet coat is a design classic – and your next flight will be better for owning it.
Lead image: H&M autumn/winter 2024
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