Food prints everywhere, from Loewe's $4,150 tomato clutch to Walmart's $5.97 rotisserie-chicken charm: Eater asks if it's too much
A sharp look at how food motifs climbed from runway novelty to mass-market fatigue, with the designers and creators behind the trend.
Food-themed fashion has gone from novelty to saturation, Eater argues. Loewe's summer collection included a $4,150 lambskin tomato clutch, while Walmart sells rotisserie-chicken bag-like purses and charms from $5.97; Moschino has made a trompe l'oeil celery purse.
The piece traces the trend from a chocolate-chip-cookie bag by Puppets and Puppets on a 2020 New York Fashion Week runway through the pandemic-era "strawberry dress" and Tombolo's vongole shirt to 2022's "seafood kitsch." Creator Cole Poska of Beyond Studios, whose fan-made Cheesecake Factory merch went viral, says food brands have "decades of nostalgia" and devoted fans.
The writer points to fatigue (Bon Appétit asked in 2024 why every dress had pasta on it), fast trend cycles that send gimmick pieces to landfill, and rising food prices that make a $425 oyster cardigan land differently.
Signal CheckPeak novelty, little staying power
How much is substance, and how much is paid or hype?
Eater flags that it may earn a commission on links in the piece. The trend is pushed by brands and viral creators; it has held up for six years as a motif, but the article argues individual pieces are designed for flash-in-the-pan virality. What holds up: a well-made piece you would wear anyway, not the joke of the week.