Why padded clothing and pillowy accessories have taken over the fashion scene.
A new evolution in the meeting between high fashion and functionality has emerged: Fashion is undergoing “puffification.” Although we are uncertain about the traction of this term puffification and the person who coined it, it is quite certain that puffy fashion is everywhere. Miu Miu is selling padded thong sandals, slides, and handbags, while Bottega Veneta has an open-toed padded mule, pillow pouch, helmet shoulder bag, and brick cassette bag. Maison Margiela was ahead of the curve with its puffed Glam Slam bag collection, which first debuted in its spring 2018 show and resembles a pillow or the cushy embrace of a tufted sofa. The entirety of Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe seems puffed up: The spring 2023 collection has a balloon pump in calfskin, a padded mule, and ankle and high boots. Loewe even went viral late last year for puffing the puffer coat, when Kendall Jenner wore its coveted puffer bomber jacket last December.
Modernity has been classified via clean, sleek lines. Think of ‘futuristic’ space core design or even ’90s minimalism revived via brands like The Row and Toteme. But now, the lines of modernity in fashion are shifting as consumers seek comfort and safety in their purchases. For inflated, pillow-like, and cartoon like styles to be en vogue represents a shift. Modernity is no longer exclusively classified by these sharp edges. If we once bought things to reflect our (imagined or real) clean, pure, and organized lives, we now want our purchases to cuddle or cradle us.
Meanwhile, designer Jeremy Scott thinks the whole world is inflated. For spring 2023, Scott incorporated inflatable pool floaties into gowns at Moschino. For him, the political connection was immediate, even obvious: “Globally, everyone’s been talking about inflation—in housing, food, gas—so I brought inflation to the runway,” he said backstage.
Beyond pillow bags and soft-padded shoes, puffification is perhaps the latest trend to bleed the lines between outerwear and avant-garde style. Fashion houses have been eager collaborators with winterwear brands: Moose Knuckles collaborated with Telfar on quilted puffer shopping bags in 2021, and The North Face worked with Gucci for several seasons to create crunchy-sleek duds for slicked-up hiking excursions (or just brunch).
At the 2022 Met Gala, Gigi Hadid notably wore a deep red Versace corset catsuit with an exaggerated train puffer coat. For her Super Bowl performance in February of this year, Rihanna paid homage to the late André Leon Talley, wearing a red Loewe outfit and two custom coats from Alaïa by Pieter Mulier. For the BRIT Awards, Sam Smith wore a custom inflatable suit by HARRI.
Although it is clear that the fashion world has recognised the need for comfort, rest and exaggeration, it still remains unclear about the validity and lifetime of this budding trend.
