With a long, elegant neck, classic black-and-white outfitting, and unarguably some of most prismatic locks on the planet, you’d think I’d be talking about the girls used to fabricate Chanel castings. Step aside Anna Mouglalis. It looks as though 2007 is gearing up to be the year of the humble penguin. Though the “humble” may not last for long.
We should have seen it coming a mile away. Our current penguin affair began with 2005’s March of the Penguins, the Academy Award-winning documentary film by Luc Jacquet. The film followed the happenings of the Emperor penguins over the course of a year, documenting their trials and tribulations, the heartbreaking and the heartwarming. It was followed by Pixar’s animated Happy Feet, a movie about a penguin who couldn’t sing, but could tap dance something fierce.
So it’s no surprise that the unlikely penguin is emerging as a fashion’s next big inspiration. At Chanel, Lagerfeld delivered menswear sweaters with penguins-stitched across the front; Canadian Pat McDonagh dedicated an entire segment of her fall 2007 show to our Antarctic friends, complete with 18th century penguin masks and ball gowns trimmed in penguin motif.
But for those cringing at the thought of sweater adorned with eyes and beak, you’ll be comforted to learn the collective prerogative was not always verbatim - or intential - interpretation. At YSL, Pilati dished up a black suit with contrasting rounded, white lapels, recreating the look of the animal’s countershaded coat. Derek Lam showed an oversized black coat paired with a white shirt and leather pant leggings. Even if the intention wasn’t a penguin homage, it sure bears a striking resemblance. Either way, the reaction will still be “Aww….now isn’t that cute?”
Ha ha! Great post!