From streetwear to high fashion: why the puffer jacket is still a sign of the times

"The puffer jacket Allen is wearing on the cover is not just a pop of colour in what may become an iconic album cover, it is also a sign of the times underlining just how ubiquitous this jacket shape has become as winter arrives each year. A puffer jacket features in the over art of Lily Allen's West End Girl. Photograph: Nieves Gonzalez Uniqlo says a 109 puffer jacket is a bestseller, and the streetwear brand Palace has released a puffer beanie."

"Puffer jackets can also be found in K Pop Demon Hunters where dancer Mira wears a puffer homage to Andre Leon Talley's famous sleeping bag coat to the Met Gala and on Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in an advert for Moncler. They are on the red carpet, too worn by Jeff Goldblum recently. If, two years ago, John Lewis attempted to call time on this decade's love of the puffer"

"Moncler has unveiled Warmer Together, bringing Al Pacino and Robert De Niro together for their first shared campaign. Photograph: Platon for Moncler Allen's puffer is depicted by the Spanish artist Nieves Gonzalez. She regularly features the clothing item in her paintings, which use influences from 16th- and 17th-century portraiture updated to now. She says the puffer jacket works because it is an intensely contemporary object. [When] placed within a compositional structure drawn from traditional painting, [it] creates that productive tension I'm interested in. Prof Andrew Groves, the director of the Menswear Archive at Westminster University, recently hosted Expedit"

Lily Allen's album cover features a bright puffer jacket, illustrating how ubiquitous the jacket shape has become each winter. Retailers and streetwear brands report strong demand for puffers, with Uniqlo naming a 109 puffer jacket a bestseller and Palace releasing a puffer beanie. Puffers appear in K Pop Demon Hunters, reference Andre Leon Talley's Met Gala coat, and feature in Moncler advertising with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Celebrities such as Jeff Goldblum have worn puffers on the red carpet. Artists incorporate puffers into contemporary-portrait work to create tension with traditional composition, while some fashion voices note a move toward smarter coats but call the puffer a cold-weather go-to.

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