Ready To Wear: Fashion gives the posh punk its stamp of approval

There's nothing fashion loves more than a posh punk, and with the pick of the world's most beautiful women at his bejewelled fingertips, Karl Lagerfeld has opted for Alice Dellal as the forthcoming face of the Chanel Boy bag.

As far as the accessory is concerned, the clue's in the name. "Chanel used men's underwear to make dresses; she had this boyish attitude, in fact, it is the very spirit of Chanel," Lagerfeld said when the bag first made its entrance for the autumn/winter season.

"She got it from Boy Capel, the great love of her life." The bag is named after him too, clearly, which is romantic, not to mention in line with Chanel's tendency to move forward by drawing on its creator's past.

The fact that the Boy aims to stray "far from conformist notions of femininity" and that it is inspired by the type of cartridge bag originally used for hunting (tally-ho!), makes any blue-blooded endorsement more apposite still. With her half-shaved head and un-frilly wardrobe, not to mention credentials as drummer in the charmingly named girl band, Thrush Metal, Ms Dellal has class, of course, but also and importantly, a relatively anarchic spirit. And that is a combination that is worth its weight in gold.

Perhaps for that reason, she is far from the first woman of her ilk to be snapped up by the fashion industry. Think of Stella Tennant, upheld up as a punk princess in the mid-1990s and still going strong, although it's hard to believe her look was once seen as quite so controversial. Look at Peaches and Pixie Geldof, posh punks par excellence, or at Lily Allen who might be described as having a touch of the Guy Ritchies and who, incidentally, Chanel has also employed in the past.

While none of the above are ever likely to give John Lydon in his heyday a run for his money, say, neither can they be described as the passive clothes horse of model mythology. And that can only be a good thing: cast aside any cynicism, then, and rest safe in the knowledge that a little diversity in a world that is all too often anything but is a positive move, surely.