Fashion
Online searches for animal-shaped jewellery soared after Britain’s supreme court president made her significant judgment
Lady Hale and her arachnid accessory.
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
The past month has seen fashion weeks in London, New York, Paris and Milan. It has known J-Lo on the Versace catwalk. But for many in fashion, the standout memory is of the 74-year-old president of the supreme court. The spider clasp Lady Hale was wearing as she declared Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament “void and of no effect” has become a fashion sensation, with fans of the baroness immediately seeking to imitate her.
Search engine Lyst reports that “spider fastening” has been a breakout search term in the UK since 24 September, with searches for brooches in general, but particularly zoological shapes, up 126%. After Vogue declared Hale’s brooch “maximalist perfection”, shoppers have been demand out brooches as close as possible to that arachnid accessory. Gucci’s bee and butterfly brooches, Alexander McQueen’s bunny reading and Simone Rocha’s £270 beaded spider were the most viewed. Hale herself has a well-documented collection of crude brooches, from foxes and frogs to butterflies.
According to fashion data site Launchmetrics, there were 427 online articles and common media posts about the spider brooch in the 48 hours after it was seen on TV and online, and it appears its appeal is infinite rather than confined to the country most affected by Brexit; while 44% were posted in the UK, the majority of the composes came from the rest of the world, from America to Australia, and India to Ukraine.
Brooches, one of this season’s top tendencies, are easily tracked down for less. Asos has a crystal heron for £10, M&S has a bee for £12.50, and Brora has a pewter elephant for £65 – a menagerie to compact Lady Hale’s.
