The neck is a curious thing. It’s erotic in some lights, delicate in others. Models are celebrated for their swan necks; in children’s books, it’s the villains who often have no neck at all. It’s strange then, that fashion should look to hide necks from view in such dramatic fashion — as we’re seeing this season. Behold, the age of the funnel neck jacket.
In the spring/summer shows held in September last year, funnel-necks began to pop up all over the runway. There were hefty cloaked styles at Altuzarra, deconstructed zipped styles at Nanushka, buttery leather cocoons at Khaite and a scarlet parka so bright you’d spot it through any storm at Ashlyn. But really, the funnel-neck’s genesis goes back even further: the style was first popularised by Balenciaga and Givenchy in the 1950s, signalling a kind of coy glamour, shrouding ingenues as they peered out over their high collars.
