How fabric patches stopped being child's play and became a status symbol for the super-stylish

This season's top style hack involves covering your possessions in a plethora of patches
Customise this: Patches from £5 at Monki
Emma McCarthy7 February 2017

With each new season comes a new opportunity to keep abreast of the fashions.

Sometimes this requires such drastic measures as flinging out at least 90 per cent of your wardrobe and reinvesting three months’ salary in a shiny new one. And sometimes it requires little more than a strategic tweak - like the time you hacked off the ends of your flares to make them look a bit more Vetements. Or the day you discovered that your old gym trackie top is actually not so different from Chloé’s £1,125 version - if you ignore the slight pong.

This season the canniest arbiter’s style hack of choice involves covering their possessions in a plethora of patches. The vibe - think Hell’s Angels crossed with your 11-year-old self - spawns from a generation of fashion fans who are enamoured with customisation.

While the most important thing used to be which designer’s name was emblazoned on your handbag, now the ultimate status symbol is arm candy stamped with your own initials.

The idea that personalisation equals uniqueness - and in turn equals a new definition of exclusivity - has led to a host of luxury labels launching stick-on accessories to bring a personal touch to any unadorned surface you deem worthy, from your purse to your iPhone case.

Fabric patches - in pictures

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Anya Hindmarch’s Sticker Shop was a trailblazer of high fashion’s “mine” movement, with an offering which includes crystal-encrusted Space Invaders, furry fried eggs and leather smiley faces. This high-end breed of DIY has also been helped by Alessandro Michele’s reinvention of Gucci, which has seen the designer’s passion for hoarder-level eclecticism spun into souvenir jackets and It-bags detailed with intricate embroidered patches.

Other brands to dip their toes into the trend include Marc Jacobs, whose patch work includes incarnations of flamingos, lemon slices and his beloved dog Neville, while model Edie Campbell’s Itchy Scratchy Patchy brand is devoted to tongue-in-cheek patches designed in collaboration with artist Christabel MacGreevy. “All our patches are little symbols of identity,” say the duo of their stitched styles, which include sumo wrestlers, female bodybuilders and centipedes. “They’re talismans you can carry around with you.”

Unsurprisingly, given that the most popular items to patch up include jeans and jackets, several denim brands are also tapping into the trend. Levi’s, whose classic 501s are no stranger to a back pocket patch, has launched a Tailor Shop in its Regent Street flagship, to let those with a creative eye but an unskilled hand get crafty with the help of a sewing needle-wielding professional. Other labels such as MiH Jeans and New York’s 3x1 have also added to their denim offerings with embroidered patch packs ranging from palm trees to lightning bolts.

Of course, the real heroes of this trend lie at grassroots level. Independent sellers site Etsy is a hotbed for finding patches of any ilk - from political to cutesy to mildly offensive - from nimble-fingered craftspeople across the globe.

Lancaster-based artist Sophie Corrigan is in our top three for her quirky designs, which include a narwhal crossed with a banana and a potato-shaped pug, while Leigh Bowser (aka LeighLaLovesYou) is a dab hand at cult TV character portraits - think Mulder and Scully to Buffy the Vampire Slayer - and will knock up a custom replica of your beloved moggy’s mug from her studio in Leeds.

Interior designer Jessica Russell Flint has also launched her favourite prints in patch form, from parrots to pineapples and lobsters to leopards, for a fraction of the price of her bespoke wallpaper designs, while the high street’s youth magnets such as Monki, Lazy Oaf and Topshop specialise in styles designed to put a smile on your face without burning a hole in your pocket.

Or, for a more commitment-free customisation options, seek out pin badges that you can chop and change as often as your mood. Cult indie fashion label Local Heroes - loved by Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne - and “techccessory” brand Skinny Dip currently have a good supply of zeitgiesty pins, from smiling poo emojis to flamingo pool floats.

As for a pin to please the capital’s brunch-munching, Instagram-snapping set, nothing’s got a patch on Octarine Dreams’s avocado on toast.

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