Fashion is all about the zeitgeist. See the current industry obsession with boxing, which comes in a year marking the 40th anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in what was then Zaire.
If that fight was a bit of a production – involving James Brown, Zaire’s president Mobutu Sese Seko and British actor David Hemmings – fashion can be relied upon to take things even more OTT. However, the sweat, grime and violence of boxing has been edited out of fashion-boxing. This isn’t the Eye of the Tiger, blue-collar Rocky look; it’s not even Million Dollar Baby. In 2014, boxing now equates to alpha fitness – it’s more a Victoria’s Secret model in a bikini at a boxing camp in Mexico.
As is often the case (see: feminism), Karl Lagerfeld is the man to take the news cycle to the catwalk. He has put Cara Delevigne and Binx Walton in the ring for Chanel ads, reminding all Bugsy Malone fans of the So You Wanna Be a Boxer? number. He has also ensured that you can take out all your frustrations of the day in a fashion-approved manner – all you need is the monogrammed boxing bag made for Louis Vuitton’s Icons project. Yours for £109,000; boxing gloves and a boxing-inspired bag are also available.
Those without the pocket-money budget of the super-rich should stick 6 November in the diary. Judging by the video released online last week, Alexander Wang’s collection for H&M – so sporty it stars Andy Caroll in the campaign – will include branded boxing gloves. Add boxing-worthy shorts and racer-back vests and you can get the whole kit. There’s no excuse not to perfect your right hook this season. Or at least look the part.
