ponyskin

This is one of the London Fashion Week looks that has stayed in my head so far. A berryish red ponyskin coat at Charles Anastase.

Is there a clothing equivalent to onomatopoeias? The sort of items that jump out at you straight from the runway before you've had a chance to see them up close but that seem so vivid that you can imagine how the fabric would feel against your fingers long before you touch it. Well, this coat does exactly that for me, especially the ponyskin texture-the sort of fabric that reminds me of lying on my Great Granny's carpet when I was little and making patterns in the thick pile by rubbing my hands back and forward over it, changing the nap of the fabric and creating changes in the colours as I went.

The A-line cut of the coat has that wonderfully classic and fuss-free quality-the sort of coat good for burrowing hands into and with the flexibility to pile scarves and wool layers underneath. But going back to the Ponyskin-it's been on my mind since seeing this and then after the Unique show I noticed Grazia's Paula Reed wearing something similarly horsey in black. Also appealing are ponyskin skirts (I think I recall a Topshop Boutique one on the website not long ago before it speedily disappeared) though they don't have that same 'hey, I can wear it everyday because it's a coat' excuse. Shame that Ponyskin isn't an easily attainable fabric, I have a hunch it will take me a while to suceed in this new mission..