The 'queen' of fabrics... — The Very Simon G

As winter approaches, and let me tell you it's approaching fast (anyone else have to layer up this morning?), we're all scrambling over each other to update our wardrobes. The new season brings with it so many exciting new trends, colours, prints and fabrics, too many to mention in this little post, but one of the most interesting for me is velvet.

When I think of velvet a few people come to mind; Morticia Addams, the Queen and Graham Norton. Morticia Addams very much defines Gothic-chic for me - in her long, fish-tail black gowns, velvet was definitely a key fabric for her wardrobe. The Queen pulls on the velvet when she does the important stuff - State opening of Parliament, her birthday etc, in fact velvet is very much a royal fabric (sorry, royal reference yet again!). And Graham Norton, bless him, often opts for... erm... rather 'out there' styles of jackets, often Hugh Hefner inspired, i.e. crushed velvet. Not that I mind it. In the right context it can look great!

Anyway anyway anyway, what I'm trying to say is that VELVET IS BACK! It was rife on the catwalks for this autumn winter. Altuzarra sent a series of burnt red velvet creations down the catwalk, Armani, Gucci and Fendi all joined in with the plush fabric brigade and PPQ hit the Gothic trend hard with black velvet and gold curtain-like fringing.

For the men, Armani and D&G produced lots of lovely, rich hued velvet jackets, Etro sent a stunning purple coat down their catwalk, and Gucci and Hermes, amongst others, also gave us men the chance to tap into the super-trend.