Fashion trends can be inspired by almost anything; music, weather and even politics but

equestrian is not the first thing many of us think of. Spending on items such as equestrian cloth-ing stood at £560 million in 2015 according to The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) and eques-trian has more of an influence than many would think with items such as jodhpurs and riding jackets enter-ing high fashion brands and making their way onto the high street.

The equine influence1921 in Florence, Gucci first opened its doors to sell leather goods, including saddlery. Guccio Gucci soon began to build his brand selling leather handbags and followed with his hugely successful suitcases which are still bought today. Gucci incorporated his passion for horses into his designs using small snaffles and stirrups on the fastening of his belts and bags. Over the years Gucci has become famous for its bags and clothes but these small equine inspired elements have always re-

mained part of the designs.As of May 2017 Gucci’s brand value was worth $12.7 billion after its revival. The equestrian influence on the brand was also to be revived. In 2011 passionate horse woman and Gucci’s creative director, Frida Giannini, launched an equestrian range taking Gucci back to its roots. Her clothes were worn by top show-jumpers such as Charlotte Casiraghi, the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco in 2011 and Jessica Spring-steen, daughter of Bruce Springsteen in 2014. The news of Gucci’s new equestrian ambassadors was cov-ered in Vogue and new riding collec-tions were designed for both riders, including show shirts and horse rugs.Other high end fashion brands start-ed by creating leatherwork for the horse, Thierry Hermès for example first established himself creating fine equestrian leather goods such as harnesses and bridles which were bought by renowned carriage mak-ers. Over the years Hermès began designing saddles, desired by the finest riders, and creating leather handbags. In 1937 the first Hermès

for many people. Everyone knows a horse lover but the stars we follow on Instagram such as Gigi and Bella Hadid are not the first people we think of. Take a closer look and the sisters often share shots of them riding at home, wearing breeches and long riding boots. Many eques-trian brands have found their way into everyday high street fashion due to celebrity wear. Puffa was an equestrian jacket at the height of its success in the 1980’s, Princess Diana was often seen wearing one as she took her sons Prince Harry and Wil-liam for a ride on their Shetland pony and Ralph Lauren jodhpurs can still be seen for sale today.Visiting any equestrian event and looking on the advertisement boards or in programmes you can often see sponsors from fashion and jewel-lery brands. Rolex created the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing a prestigious event representing the pinnacle of achievement in equestrianism, Longines passion for equestrian sport began in 1878 after producing a chronograph engraved with a horse and jockey and they have since been official timekeeper for many eques-trian events and can be found in partnership with the Fédéra-tion Equestre Internationale.However, the inspiration of equestrianism isn’t limited to expensive brands. High street clothing retail company H&M have been in partnership with The London International Horse Show Olympia since 1996. The H&M We Love Horses campaign market their clothing with riders such as international showjumping brothers Nicola and Olivier Philippaerts part-nering with the brand to wear their clothes in adverts and when riding. Partnered rider, Peder Fredricson’s horse, H&M All In has also raised the profile of the clothing company in equestrianism after winning individ-ual silver in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. H&M have filled a gap in equestrian partnerships, aiming to-

how her saddlery business sells products to its customers by selling online and marketing through social media sites.She said: “The equestrian clothing market is massive and keeps grow-ing, there are so many brands and different companies setting up.“Fashion has come into it instead of practicality. When an idea takes off with one brand all the others try and emulate it, it’s like a fashion cycle.”H&M use social media platforms and marketing successfully with the H&M We Love Horses campaign. They post video content, such as their part-nered rider Malin Baryard choosing her favourite clothing items, and host competitions online and instore to win lessons with the athletes. Such use of online has worked well with both equestrian and fashion and the campaign has more than 53k followers on social media.

Equestrian may be popular in high end and high street fashion because of the beauty and elite it represents but the practical and comfortable fitting of equestrian clothing may also be something that appeals to non-horse riders. Next time you buy an item adorned with a snaffle detail you will realise that horses have had a lot more inspiration in the design than you may have first thought.

HORSES to Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Hermès. Other than being fashion brands what more do they have in common? The answer is equestrian. Kelly Aitkin explains how.

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scarf was made, becoming a hit with celebrities such as Jacqueline Kenne-dy. Both Gucci and Hermès still main-tain their legacy by selling saddles, they are worth approximately £5,000 to £9,000 and Hermès has its own range of equestrian clothing which even the richest of horse lovers sure-ly would think twice about paying for just to be covered in horse slobber.So why does the horse influence fashion?Horses symbolise many things; pow-er, beauty, freedom. With fashion constantly changing and taking new and daring trends to the runway the horse embodies this daring freedom perfectly. This symbolism doesn’t only lie in fashion but can also be seen in jewellery and plays a major part in the advertisement and mar-keting of brands. Rebecca Thomp-son, who owns Thinford Saddlery with her mother Diane, has worked in the equestrian industry for ap-proximately 30 years and has seen a major change in rider’s clothing over time. Rebecca thinks that equestrian fashion can be seen as elitist from people outside of the industry.She said: “The general public have al-ways perceived the equestrian world to be a bit elitist, the royals playing polo for example.I feel that high fashion takes more inspiration from equestrian.”The elitist representation of equestri-an is perhaps why so many high fash-ion brands such as Gucci and Rolex aim their partnerships at the sport and use horses as an inspiration for many of their designs.

Appealing to manyHorses are not only an inspiration for fashion but are a passion and sport

wards those who couldn’t afford the higher end products as well as releasing the We Love Horses Limited Edition Collection with higher pricing. These clothes of course are inspired by equestri-an wear with bodywarmers and tops.22 year old, Georgina Pattinson, a customer at Thinford Sad-dlery said: “I wear equestrian jumpers and coats in the high street because of their warmth and comfort. They usually get complimented on.”Georgina thinks that elements of equestrian fashion can be seen on the high street such as short jodhpur boots and long boots coming into fash-ion, some even complete with gold dummy spur straps.“There was the stage when Topshop sold jodhpurs, they were canary with suede knee patches on. There’s loads of other things that you’d think ‘you’d see that on someone who was riding a horse.’”Thinford Saddlery owner, Rebecca Thompson, said: “About six years ago equestrian and country came

into the general fashion world but that’s stead-ied up because supermarket and high street brands have upped their game in produc-ing their cloth-

ing but better quality and cheaper prices.I feel people look for more value for money products these days. There is only a small, select market for high end stuff.”

Into the futureEquestrian has been influencing fashion for over 100 years so how will the inspiration of the horse re-main relevant in years to come?The internet is massively changing how clothing stores sell and market their clothes with 68% of UK internet users buying clothing and footwear online according to Mintel.Rebecca Thompson has developed