Trench coats on, puffer jackets out: autumn fashion blows in

Anya Taylor-Joy, Kim Kardashian and Emily Ratajkowski wearing trench coats this year. Photograph: Getty Images

When Kylie Jenner launched her fashion brand KHY on Instagram last week, she did so wearing a single garment: a black “vegan leather” ankle-grazing trench which costs $198. There are already controversies surrounding the new label,but the fact that the beauty mogul chose to launch her foray into so-called “affordable luxury” fashion with a leather trench coat says a lot about this year’s chosen outerwear.

The trusty puffer coat – a cold day go-to for aeons – has officially had its final puff, and this slicker and more cinched silhouette has taken its place. At last month’s Erdem show at London fashion week, Vogue’s Anna Wintour was pictured front row in a postbox-red leather trench coat; she was also spotted recently in a Ribena-coloured version. Kylie Minogue attended the Burberry show in a bottle-green style with the collar popped up. Such is the leather trench coat’s ubiquity it has been affectionately dubbed “the LTC” on social media.

This is translating into sales. A £350 black leather longline version at M&S is completely sold out in sizes spanning a UK 6 to 24; at Cos a £650 metallic double-breasted version has also sold out, while faux-leather versions starting from £25 at Asos are “selling fast”. John Lewis has increased its buy of leather trenches by a third from last year.

The leather trench has, in fact, been the coat of choice for the Kardashian-Jenner family for several years, according to Emma Spedding, acting executive fashion news and features editor at British Vogue. “Like balloon arches and lipliner, it’s something that is instantly recognisable as a very ‘Kardashian-Jenner’ look,” she says, “and this family certainly knows how to turn their signature aesthetics into business opportunities.”

(Source: The Guardian)