Packaging design has been making a statement on the catwalk at both London Fashion Week and Paris Fashion week recently.
At London Fashion Week designer Anya Hindmarch took retro packaging from everyday household items as the starting point for her autumn/winter 2014 accessories collection. The show was like 'a very stylish trip to the supermarket'
A smorgasbord of cereal favourites - Tony the tiger, the Kellogg's cockerel - were plastered across Anya's Featherweight Ebury totes, as London's most beloved bag lady made the ordinary very extraordinary indeed. Daz and Ariel washing powder packets found their way onto Hindmarch's Georgiana clutches, and even a packet of Swan matches managed to look chic when sitting against a backdrop of chalk goatskin.
Highlights were the metallic bourbon and custard cream evening bags, which followed a couple of Hindmarch's previous crisp packet clutches onto the catwalk. And who could have guessed that the humble digestive packet would replace Fendi's bag bugs as the coveted autumn 2014 tote accessory?
Then, yesterday, Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld continued the trend playing to the industry’s consumerist heart by parading his autumn/winter collection down supermarket aisles. Well-heeled shoppers, including singer Rihanna and British models Cara Delevingne and Stella Tennant, filled their baskets with groceries – all Chanel-branded, of course – as they pranced along in Lagerfeld’s latest creations.
Shelves stacked with everything from washing powder to chainsaws adorned the makeshift Paris fashion week catwalk at the Grand Palais, as the 80-year-old designer showed off his urban dweller range, which included knitted sneakers, baggy trousers and leggings filled with holes. Although I'm more interested in the packaging than the clothes.
Its great to see packaging design causing a stir in the fashion-world and as a packaging designer, its great to think what we're designing now could end up on a riduclously expensive handbag one day.
JS
