The Recent Rush of Plush Velvet

  Nothing adds a royal touch quite like velvet, and we’ve noticed plenty of it in the recent pre-fall, Haute Couture, and even menswear collections. At Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton whipped up an ecclesiastical draped robe in cardinal red, while Stella McCartney, Rochas’ Marco Zanini, and Peter Copping at Nina Ricci were among the designers who incorporated the fabric into eveningwear. 

Christopher Kane, for his part, took the material in a more casual direction with a cool biker jacket. Velvet is getting play in the real world, too. Jessica Alba turned up to the Dior Haute Couture show this week wearing a sumptuous black topcoat, while Joséphine de la Baume gave off a witchy vibe in a crushed-velvet number at the Amy Winehouse Foundation Ball.