Duvet daze: why you need to get down with a quilted…

Duvet daze: why you need to get down with a quilted coat

And here we are. Into our eighth month of the New Normal and we’ve gone from officewear to WFHwear to luxe loungewear.

We’ve established a comfortable arsenal of elasticated waistbands, wireless bras, and PJs and now we’re ready to embrace the climax of 2020: reader, meet the duvet coat.

The fashion equivalent of a hot chocolate on a rainy day, the duvet coat is a more refined and considered way of wrapping up in the face of a bitter winter. Championed by the likes of Gigi Hadid, who has endorsed a posh floor-length North Face puffer and an ankle-grazing hot pink Christina Ledang iteration, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and every influencer worth their salt, the only way to pound the pavements in style this winter is to don a duvet. Think Arsène Wenger, but make it fashion.

“Warm coats? For winter? Groundbreaking,” I can hear Miranda Priestley remarking at the back of my head, but hear me out. Global fashion platform Lyst – which analyses the behaviour of 100 million shoppers to track consumer demand – has noted that searches for “duvet coat” have increased by 34 per cent since the start of November, with the padded puffers from Arket, Totême, and Jil Sander proving the most popular.

Copenhagen Fashion Week was awash with duvet coats
IMAXTree

The recent renaissance of Sander’s collaboration with Japanese high-street retailer Uniqlo launched with three duvet down-filled coats - two of which sold out almost straight away – and Browns Fashion confirmed that it’s “seen an increase in demand on outerwear pieces such as puffer and padded coats”, with its most popular brands being Moncler and Canada Goose.undefined

“Duvet style coats have been performing really well this season, especially as our lifestyles are changing - style in the city is becoming more relaxed and we are spending more time outdoors,” confirmed Liane Wiggins, Head of Womenswear Buying at Matches Fashion. “The Jil Sander duvet coats sold out really quickly, so we will be restocking in January. ”

But you needn’t re-mortgage your house to buy one, the high street is awash with posh puffers. Arket’s Long Down Puffer Coat (£225) not only hits the sustainability sweet spot owing to its recycled down filling and nylon but was also one of the top ten best-selling pieces of 2019, according to Lyst. Meghan Markle-favourite Everlane has an aptly named Sleeping Bag Puffer (£193), which was made from 18 recycled plastic bottles and comes to just above the ankle, while Topshop’s reversible Longline Padded Puffer (£79) gives plenty of bang for your buck (it sold out within a week on ASOS.)

J+ re-launched with three posh puffers
Uniqlo

For those who aren’t down – pardon the pun - with an all-day duvet, look to the slightly more streamlined array of quilted coats. Less duvet, more padded picnic blanket. Totême's Annecy quilted coat (£500) has struggled to stay in stock since a stream of influencers championed it, and Ganni’s Quilted Recycled Nylon offering (£325) from its autumn/winter 2020 collection has experienced a similar trajectory thanks to endorsements from Camille Charriere et al (& Other Stories has a great dupe for a fraction of the price.)

The beauty of this winter’s dignified iteration of the duvet lies in its ability to mask all manner of elasticated ensembles you may have thrown on underneath. As Mary-Kate Olsen so eloquently put it: “'I love getting amazing jackets, because you can wear your pyjamas underneath and everyone's like, 'Oh, fabulous jacket,' and I'm like, 'You should see what's underneath!'” So, what’re you waiting for?