Your Favorite food is IN VOGUE

As a chronically online person with a wardrobe often described as humorous and whimsical, Instagram is a dangerous place. Over the past few years, the emergence of food-themed apparel, endless brand collaborations, and merchandise from my favorite restaurants and eateries, it's nearly impossible to log in without adding something to my cart. It seems like food and fashion have never been more intertwined than they are now, bringing a whole new meaning to you are what you eat.

It’s no surprise that food and fashion go hand in hand. Food, like fashion, can be a form of self-expression and Identity—telling the world who we are, where we are from, and what we love.

Fashion houses have always used food as a basis for inspiration, but it wasn’t until 2014 that that inspiration turned more literal when Jeremy Scott shocked the world with his golden arch-inspired collection for Moschino. In the years to follow, name brands like Coco Chanel, Raf Simmons, and Chromat followed suit with runway shows featuring food. 

Food as Fashion: 

Fashion brands are not the only brands capitalizing on our affinity for food-themed fare. Over the past few years, we’ve seen collaborations between food brands and apparel brands like the infamous KFC Crocs that supposedly smell like real chicken. Other brands like McDonalds have kept things in-house, releasing their own lines of apparel. For many brands, merch releases are an easy way to generate buzz on social media as exclusive and novelty items. 

Independent brands and smaller brands are cashing in on the merch trend too. While they may not have the budget to promote large social campaigns, branded merch can be a vehicle for brand discovery and a way for individuals to advertise their shared beliefs and identity. 

Food In Fashion Now: 

While most of us won’t be able to afford the fresh-off-the-runway looks or spend all day online waiting for a merch drop. I’m happy to report that food-themed fashion in 2023 is not just for the elite! Maybe the pandemic caused us all to look at our wardrobes a little differently, or maybe it’s the rise of Gen-Z whimsy, but food-themed apparel and jewelry are here to stay. 

Brands like Rachel Antonoff have embraced food-forward prints with items like their famed farfalle puffer and, most recently, a part of the spring 2023 collection, a dress featuring a repeating key-lime pie print with a peter pan collar that looks good enough to eat.

If simplicity is more your thing, there’s a food-forward apparel brand for that too. Wear Your Snacks, originally a jewelry line created on Instagram, now produces hats and shirts in subdued colors featuring your favorite snacks printed on them in bold letters. 
Food-themed apparel allows us to wear our hearts on our sleeve, express allegiance to a certain lifestyle or product and scream from the rooftops, “I EAT TINNED FISH"! Personally, I’d take a hat that says ‘Hot Dog’' over a designer bag any day of the week.