Remember the first time you saw Sarah Lund’s Fair Isle jumper? Or when Joan Holloway’s primary-coloured shift dresses sashayed into your life? In all likelihood you were at home, with your feet on the coffee table, watching TV – where so many modern fashion fascinations emerge.
So, good news for sofa style-spotters this summer: a significant new heroine has appeared. Her name is Cookie and she comes swathed in triple leopard print.
As the matriarch on E4’s brilliant TV hip-hop saga, Empire – described by show creator Lee Daniels as “black Dynasty” – Cookie has a wardrobe that is excessive and extravagant. Think head-to-toe rhinestones and magenta fur. Dresses come courtesy of Balmain and Givenchy; bags are by Gucci and Balenciaga.
Cookie’s look is rich with references and echoes – trilbies and leather macintoshes recall Ron O’Neal in Super Fly; often there is a touch of noughties Beyoncé or nineties Mary J Blige. Whatever era her clothes are riffing on, she prioritises fabulousness over comfort and consistently out-manoeuvres men in sensible shoes while she does it. Cookie is tough, and so are her clothes.
The actor who plays Cookie, Taraji P Henson, is deservedly having her moment in the fashion limelight. Last night, she presented an award at the fashion industry’s version of the Oscars, the CFDA awards – wearing bold, foxy maroon Vera Wang. If the understated, minimalist world of high-end fashion has been short of a glamorous heroine, it looks like one has arrived.
