The Rise of Cats in Fashion

London – If anyone is still doubting what the power animal is in fashion,
then look no further as the fantastically, fabulous feline, aka the cat,
has firmly wiggled and purred its way into the fashion industry’s heart for
good.

The dog days in fashion are clearly over as the industry’s fascination with
the cat has only intensified over the past few seasons. Just take a look at
Stella Mccartney’s Pre-Fall 2016 collection, which was stock full of
hand-drawn cat faces on scarves, dresses, trousers and skirts in addition
to big-cat prints, such as tiger and leopard. The collection also included
a deluxe cat-carrier bag, and the accompanying campaign images featured a
range of cats.

A photo posted by Stella McCartney (@stellamccartney) on Aug 1, 2016 at 5:44am PDT

A photo posted by Stella McCartney (@stellamccartney) on Sep 3, 2016 at 10:29am PDT

Then there was Gucci’s Pre-Fall 2016 collection, which features kittens on
numerous sweaters, complete with cat-eyed glasses, and No.21 take on the
‘Ugly’ sweater, made cute thanks to the cat on the front, also for Pre-Fall
2016. In fact, there were so many Pre-Fall collections featuring cat
motifs in one way or another that fashion magazines Vogue and Harper’s
Bazaar dubbed cats as one of the seasons trends.

The fashion industry love affair with cats goes further than Fall 2016

But the industry’s love for cats goes further than just Pre-Fall 2016.
Autumn/Winter 2016/2017 collections from Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Chanel,
Marc Jacobs, Loewe, Paul & Joe and Miu Miu all included cat motifs, big-cat
prints or cat inspired designs. Some, like Loewe, kept the cat influence
minimal by using it to accessorize, while others, like Gucci and D&G, place
fashion’s darling cat front and centre in their collections. New
collections for Cruise 2017 from Gucci and Marc Jacobs also incorporate
kitty silhouettes, further cementing their place in fashion.

One may ask where this fascination with cats in fashion first stemmed from.
Cats have regularly been featured in fashion designs and campaigns. For
example, luxury jewellery house Cartier has been using a panther as its
motif since 1914 and Italian artist Rene Gruau used cats to advertise
tights for Christian Dior in the early 1960s. Designer Miuccia Prada
periodically incorporated cat motifs in her collections for Miu Miu. One of
the Italian fashion houses most memorable collections from Spring 2010,
which included kitten and bird outlines, served as inspiration for Miu
Miu’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection, which included cat-themed cowboy boots
with metallic detailing which were an instant hit.

A photo posted by Giada Cassina (@giadacassina) on Mar 14, 2016 at 12:54pm PDT

Fashion Leaders & Cat Lovers include Karl Lagerfeld and Grace
Coddington

Brands ranging from Sandro to Zara and Gucci have all featured cats in
their campaigns over the years. In 2000, Mario Testino shoot a particularly
endearing campaign for Gucci’s Spring/Summer collection, while Lanvin
included two black cats in its Autumn/Winter 2009 advert. However cats have
served as more than just pretty faces within the fashion industry. Famous
cat lovers in the fashion industry include designer Karl Lagerfeld – whose
famous cat Choupette has served as the muse for numerous collections and
created her own make-up line with Shu Uemura – and US designer Jason Wu,
who was inspired by his two cats Jinxy and Peaches when creating his 2012
collection with Target.

A photo posted by Choupette Lagerfeld (@choupettesdiary) on Aug 27, 2016 at 12:59pm PDT

However, one of the most famed cat lovers in the industry remains the self
proclaimed cat lady and US Vogue’s creative director at large, Grace
Coddington. Not only has she numerously stated and showed her love for cats
in public, but she also released her own illustrated novel based on her
cats adventurous, ‘The Catwalk Cats’ in 2006 and more recently her own
perfume, whose bottle was inspired by her cats. Then there is British
Vogue’s fashion editor Francesca Burns, who also shares her love for her
cat on Instagram.

A video posted by @therealgracecoddington on Apr 7, 2016 at 11:18pm PDT

Instagram fuels the fashion industry’s love for Cats

In fact, the emergence of Instagram as the industry’s preferred social
platform has also undoubtedly helped the rise of cats in fashion. Just take
a look at Karl Lagerfeld’s Choupette – she boosts over 87,000 followers on
Instagram alone, has inspired numerous fashion collections as well as a
book. She joins the ranks of celebrity cats – such as Grumpy Cat, who has
1.8 million followers, Nala Cat, who has an astonishing 3.1 million
followers on Instagram and Lil Bub, who has 1.4 million followers – who
have spawned their own memes and merchandise, such as t-shirts, sweaters
and stickers.

A photo posted by Grumpy Cat (@realgrumpycat) on Jul 26, 2016 at 1:04pm PDT

Although dogs are gaining momentum on social media platforms like Facebook,
cats and cat memes are synonymous with the internet, which has led to
certain cats like Grumpy Cat becoming known across the globe. Grumpy Cat
(real name Tardar Sauce) even launched her own movie with Lifetime “Grumpy
Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever” and continues to tour the world attending
numerous events. Of course, there is a larger motivation for their owners
to share photos of their cats – money. In 2014, Grumpy Cat was estimated to
have made a cool 100 million dollars (64 million pounds), although her
owner Tabatha Bundesen had refuted this, the value is unlikely to be very
far off.

Vogue even invited Grumpy Cat to come and visit its head office in New York
in 2014, with Coddington herself saying that Grumpy was “probably the most
interesting person” she had met that year – showing that cats are truly
fashion’s darling.

A photo posted by Helena Mobin (@helenaymobin) on Apr 3, 2014 at 10:12am PDT

Homepage Photo: @Uglycatmary, via Choupette Lagerfeld Facebook

Photo 1: Stella Mccartney Pre-Fall 2016, via stellamccartney.com

Photo 2: Gucci Pre-Fall 2016, via Gucci.com

Photo 3: Loewe A/W ’16, via Loewe.co,

Photo 4: D&G A/W ’16, via dolcegabbana.com

Photo 5 & 6: Karl Lagerfeld Choupette, via via Choupette Lagerfeld Facebook