Top Trend: Shaggy Coats

When fashion publications claim that coats are a big trend for the fall/winter season, it’s a bit of a cop-out. Of course coats are going to be popular when the weather turns cold. But that being said, within the confines of the coat category, there are a few key styles that stand out and perhaps none more so than the shaggy coat.

Designers across the board thought it would be a clever idea to offer up long haired (faux or real fur) coats for the wettest, coldest months of the year. And while these garments might not be the smartest options when it’s pouring outside (who wants to look like a drowned rat?), they do have a sort of magnetic sartorial attraction. Their strokable pelts makes it almost impossible to resist sliding your fingers through, say, the long curls of a shearling coat or glide a hand over the soft yet slightly prickly contours of a mink fur collar.

Marni

Dries Van Noten

Michael Kors

It’s also interesting to note that when designers decide to embrace the shaggy coat style, they almost always choose to up the “statement coat” ante even further buy constructing them out of vibrant colors. This combo of long hair and high octane hues is designed to pretty much weed out the fashion wallflowers of the world. Only women who crave attention, and are totally unapologetic, can really pull off this trend.

Fendi

MSGM

Miu Miu

But in a world gone selfie mad, where everyone can become an influencer or social media star overnight, the shaggy coat is sure to find a real following and fanbase. Maybe this is why designers as disparate as Dries Van Noten, Michael Kors, Massimo Giorgetti and Esteban Cortazar have all decided it is time to take on this trend and make it their own. And as surprising as it may seem, they all have found ways to not just make the shaggy coat cool, but also covetable.

Jessica Michault

Jessica Michault is the Senior Vice President of industry relations at GPS Radar by Launchmetrics. She is also the editor-at-large for ODDA magazine and contributes to publications like the New York Times, the Business of Fashion, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Mixte magazine.