Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby THEY used to be something knitted by granny which would be quickly resigned to the back of the wardrobe.
But now the dreaded Christmas jumper is making a comeback. Online retailer Amazon has reported a huge 600% increase in sales of festive knits compared to last year, and shops are also doing a roaring trade in them.
Celebrities, fashion experts and high street shoppers have all been spotted wearing jumpers adorned with festive symbols.
Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton and singer Kelly Rowland have both sported woollies decorated with reindeer while Towie’s Maria Fowler has favoured a snowman pattern.
On Friday, This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby wore Christmas jumpers in a nod to the surprise trend.
Pop superstar Justin Bieber was also seen wearing a rather natty festive cardigan. But it was hardly a granny knit – his was a “red Junya Watanabe Nordic Varsity Jacket” costing a whopping £1,000.
Other celebs to adopt the fashion include Matt Damon, who wore a very colourful sweater complete with 3D Santa heads on the sleeves while appearing on the Today show. And singer Pink was seen out shopping in one.
The most famous of the Christmas jumpers is the “Sarah Lund”, worn by actress Sofie Grabol in hit TV drama The Killing. It’s available at
www.gudrungudrun.com for £327. But there are many similar, cheaper prints in the shops.
The popularity among celebrities has been mirrored on the high street with retailers reporting brisk trade of all things woolly.
Shopping centre shelves are groaning under the weight of red-nosed reindeers, jolly Santas, perky penguins and flurries of festive snowflakes.
At Primark sales have doubled. Chief executive Paul Marchant said: “It’s been a tough year with all the doom and gloom – people want to have fun. At £10 and £12, they are brilliant value. The interest has been phenomenal.”
Web-based fashion outlet ASOS offers 231 choices when you type “Christmas Jumper” into its search engine. And department store John Lewis says cashmere is selling very well – up 75% on the previous week.
There is even a whole website, www.christmasjumper.co.uk, devoted to selling festive knits.
Fair Isle styles remain a firm favourite with both men and women and are stocked by Gap, Banana Republic and Topshop .
Jess Brown, of Amazon.co.uk, said: “It is interesting to see this trend making a comeback. Thanks to top designers putting festive knits on their catwalks, this style is back in fashion once again. Sales show that our shoppers can’t get enough of them.”
Sales at Marks & Spencer are also going through the roof. A spokesman said: “We’ve seen more interest in knitwear than ever before.”
London-based illustration studio Lazy Oaf has a wide selection of sweaters bearing snowy motifs, while Stella McCartney’s polar-bear knit is clearly a hit with Frozen Planet fans.
Designer Paul Smith is running a festive jumper competition on his company’s facebook page.
Barry Tulip, of Gieves & Hawkes, has said: “It’s always been part of London’s street style scene to experiment with clothes that look ‘wrong’ or ‘uncool’ and the obsession with cringeworthy Christmas knits is a perfect example.”
It’s all a long way from Colin Firth’s string of embarrassing Christmas knits which his character Mark Darcy wore in the movie Bridget Jones’ Diary.
And one man who takes the fashion more seriously than most is Norwegian Lars Holdhus who has set up a website – www.christmassweatercollection.com – on which he models the top 90 from his collection of 150.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/12/19/the-big-christmas-jumper-comeback-115875-23645707/#ixzz1gyu75Yvd
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby
But now the dreaded Christmas jumper is making a comeback.
Celebrities, fashion experts and high street shoppers have all been spotted wearing jumpers adorned with festive symbols.
Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton and singer Kelly Rowland have both sported woollies decorated with reindeer while Towie’s Maria Fowler has favoured a snowman pattern.
On Friday, This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby wore Christmas jumpers in a nod to the surprise trend.
Pop superstar Justin Bieber was also seen wearing a rather natty festive cardigan. But it was hardly a granny knit – his was a “red Junya Watanabe Nordic Varsity Jacket” costing a whopping £1,000.
Matt Damon
Other celebs to adopt the fashion include Matt Damon, who wore a very colourful sweater complete with 3D Santa heads on the sleeves while appearing on the Today show. And singer Pink was seen out shopping in one.
The most famous of the Christmas jumpers is the “Sarah Lund”, worn by actress Sofie Grabol in hit TV drama The Killing. It’s available at
www.gudrungudrun.com for £327. But there are many similar, cheaper prints in the shops.
The popularity among celebrities has been mirrored on the high street with retailers reporting brisk trade of all things woolly.
Shopping centre shelves are groaning under the weight of red-nosed reindeers, jolly Santas, perky penguins and flurries of festive snowflakes.
At Primark sales have doubled. Chief executive Paul Marchant said: “It’s been a tough year with all the doom and gloom – people want to have fun. At £10 and £12, they are brilliant value. The interest has been phenomenal.”
Web-based fashion outlet ASOS offers 231 choices when you type “Christmas Jumper” into its search engine. And department store John Lewis says cashmere is selling very well – up 75% on the previous week.
There is even a whole website, www.christmasjumper.co.uk, devoted to selling festive knits.
Fair Isle styles remain a firm favourite with both men and women and are stocked by Gap, Banana Republic and Topshop .
Jess Brown, of Amazon.co.uk, said: “It is interesting to see this trend making a comeback. Thanks to top designers putting festive knits on their catwalks, this style is back in fashion once again. Sales show that our shoppers can’t get enough of them.”
Sales at Marks & Spencer are also going through the roof. A spokesman said: “We’ve seen more interest in knitwear than ever before.”
London-based illustration studio Lazy Oaf has a wide selection of sweaters bearing snowy motifs, while Stella McCartney’s polar-bear knit is clearly a hit with Frozen Planet fans.
Designer Paul Smith is running a festive jumper competition on his company’s facebook page.
Barry Tulip, of Gieves & Hawkes, has said: “It’s always been part of London’s street style scene to experiment with clothes that look ‘wrong’ or ‘uncool’ and the obsession with cringeworthy Christmas knits is a perfect example.”
It’s all a long way from Colin Firth’s string of embarrassing Christmas knits which his character Mark Darcy wore in the movie Bridget Jones’ Diary.
And one man who takes the fashion more seriously than most is Norwegian Lars Holdhus who has set up a website – www.christmassweatercollection.com – on which he models the top 90 from his collection of 150.
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