It seems that you can’t walk into a shop this season; be it a clothing store, toy store, department store etc., without seeing an owl somewhere. The little guy is everywhere; from Christmas tree decorations to cuddly toys, from jumper prints to iPhone cases, bags to babygros and more. Whether he is the cute, fat cartoon bird, or the lifelike image, this season it seems that he certainly isn’t about to fly the nest. I know for one that I can’t decide whether I love the prints and designs or if I am sick of the sight of the things.
Many people are probably wondering where the owl suddenly came from and might be surprised to know the birthplace of the seemingly irrepressible trend was actually the Burberry Prorsum A/W12 show. Models walked the runway with owl jumpers and tees tucked into ladylike ruffled midi skirts, some teamed with cropped jackets and leather gloves, some clutching the leather purse adorned with a golden owl head, and a star was born. Most people will probably agree that, although they may be sick of the sight of the hooting bird, it is a far better high street homage to Burberry than the checked caps that flooded the country not so long ago.
Burberry must be glad that the new trend they seem to have spawned is of a much higher class than the last. That is not to say that it is an inaccessible trend; merely that it is reaching far and wide, not just across the fashion world and is not tarnishing the classic British brand like the ‘chavs’ of the Burberry cap days. It’s also nice that it has been interpreted so well on the High Street without just looking like a cheap copy of an exact designer piece. You will find jumpers, tees and accessories adorned with golden owl heads, all-over owl prints, silhouette prints and motifs, owl shaped bags and much more.
You can even buy Owl and Pussycat branded toiletries, owl printed notebooks and pens and owl shaped gift bags. You name it and you can most likely find it, with an owl on it.
It’s uncertain whether the main feature of the SS13 Burberry show, the Quality Street wrapper-esque ultra-shine coloured trench, will become as widespread as the owl, but there is bound to be a subtle recurrent theme hidden amongst the flamboyant pieces featured in the SS13 fashion week shows. Perhaps it is time to get ahead of the next trend and go back to poring over the media coverage to find the next big thing before everyone else.
By Louise Hayward