Are blankets the new scarves?
My blanket fetish continues, and it looks like I’m not the only one. In the last few years, thanks to you-know-what, there’s been a huge rise in home comfort cravings with blankets and throws, not to mention soothing scented candles and tactile cushions, all attracting our attention in the absence of the human touch.
Weighted blankets were big news, but for the more aesthetically inclined, it’s all about the rise of the art blanket and the fashion blanket.
For the WFH office, baby blankets like the Hermès H-logo Avalon are a handy size for keeping knees warm or for draping over a sofa arm, just so. The logo craze beloved by the street wear crowd lends itself to graphic interpretations, particularly from brands like Loewe* who have a natural art sensibility. And at £900-odd for a generously sized blanket, it’s better value inch for inch then a cashmere scarf.
“A rise in spending on home interiors, as people seek to elevate their domestic environments means they’re creating brighter, cosier and calmer surroundings with social media helping them not only to discover new brands, but also to show off their interior upgrades,” The Future Laboratory’s Victoria Buchanan told me when I spoke to her for a feature on how blankets got cool for Harrods magazine. In some cases, your fashion blanket can also double as a scarf – witness the vogue for dinner blankets not too long ago.
Begg x Co has been an early adopter of the art and fashion blanket trend. Following its recent collaboration with ceramicist and illustrator John Booth*, it has just released a limited-edition blanket with Scottish artist Bruce McLean (top). His punchy graphic colour placements are ideal for the rectangular ‘canvas’ presented by one of Begg x Co’s thick woven jacquard blankets. As silk square scarves are almost like blank canvases for all sorts of decorative graphic-play, it’s no surprise that blankets can also multi-task as artworks. Slowdown Studio’s founder Marc Hendrick told me his wife uses their 137cm x 178cm artist collaboration cotton blankets (below) as framed wall hangings for both aesthetic value and soundproofing benefits – who knew?
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WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Bruce McLean x Begg x Co; JW Anderson x Magdalene Odundo*; Alanui*; Slowdown Studio by Jack Curtis for Harrods magazine
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links* and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
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