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A light-hearted look at the trend of ears in high fashion
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Jeremy Scott

There is a serious ear obsession in the world of fashion right now. Comme Des Garcons showed Mickey Mouse-esque hats in their FW07/08 show, a slew of British celebrities designed their own mouse ear hats for a charity auction & Jeremy Scott created a black matte helmet with ears — very Apocalyptic Disney — which Rihanna wore in the music video for Hard.  What is going on?

Louis Vuitton
Who can say where an idea starts? When Marc Jacobs, Creative Director of Louis Vuitton, sent Jessica Stam down the catwalk wearing twisted turban-cum-bunny-ears in March 2009, he definitely took the trend & made it his own.  A combination of the recently repopularised turban with the frivolousness of a pair of novelty ears? Brilliant!  A couple of months later, Madonna wore a turquoise version of the Louis Vuitton creations to the Met Ball. She received some flack, but as is so often the case, she was simply ahead of the curve.

Lily Allen & Lady Gaga soon followed suit, appearing at events in ear-tastic creations by Maison Michel. At a whopping $450 a pop, the headpieces featured intricate lace-work, with their delicate design bringing a certain wearability to the trend.  Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen made a splash when they also wore Maison Michel ears to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Opening Ceremony in Tokyo. Mary-Kate made a lovely mouse, while Ashley pulled off a pair of bunny ears with impressive aplomb.

Vogue Deutsch
The frenzy reached its peak when Chanel Iman — brand spanking new Victoria’s Secret Angel & definite model “It Girl” — appeared in a Vogue Deutsch editorial wearing a pair of black Mickey Mouse ears in every frame.  Entitled Minni Im Wunderland & photographed by Mark Seliger, she’s seen riding an elephant in a jacket by Jean-Paul Gaultier, yukking it up in an airstream trailer-home while wearing an Erin Fetherston skirt & rocking a lewd, vintage, definitely-not-licensed-by-Disney t-shirt depicting Mickey & Minnie in the act of coitus. I think this photo shoot is the best take on ears, & why? It’s all in the mix. The ears were paired with fun, upbeat & un-precious pieces which made the whole look sweet & youthful, & less costumey than those before her. She just looks like a girl having a good time.

Numéro
Never to be outdone, this month Numéro featured Abbey Lee Kershaw wearing a unicorn horn as well as a pair of winged horns. A step too far or a stroke of genius? Either way, a unicorn horn of that kind of size would certainly be hard to party in…

If you want to do it like the celebrities do, you can snap up your own pair of bunny or mouse ears through Maison Michel or Benoît Missolin. If your budget for accessories doesn’t run into the hundreds of dollars, high street versions have appeared in the strangest of places, including TopShop & Forever 21.  Regardless, when it comes to a good deal, sequined options & a range of colors, the best place to buy them will always be Disneyland.

Words by Gala Darling

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