Fashion: That mohair itch: Loosen up this winter with a fashionable bit of the fine, fluffy stuff, says Tamsin Blanchard

The last time mohair made a fashion statement was when Sid Vicious pulled holes in his mohair jumper. Now it is the turn of Bjork, the Icelandic pop star, who wears a mohair jumper on the cover of her album, Debut. The fluffy stuff is everywhere right now, but it is fashion designers, not punk rockers, who are making cobwebs out of it.

Mohair is the baby-soft, hairy wool that looks best when knitted loosely. This is the key to its new-found popularity - it goes perfectly with fashion's great loosening up. Best of all, charity shops seem to have an endless supply of old mohair jumpers; it is easy to pick one up for under a fiver.

Mohair cropped up at many collections for this winter, but in its most peculiar form at Katharine Hamnett and Corinne Cobson, who both produced pastel-coloured mohair knickers.

All the high-street stores are stocking mohair in some form this winter. At French Connection, fluffy angora is proving a great hit. 'It goes well with long, floaty shapes and chiffon,' says Lily Anderson, for the company.

The Scottish designer, Rina da Prato, has made her mohair into a luxuriously wide scarf, selling well at pounds 45. Her range also includes tank tops, knee-length A- line dresses, bobble hats and long waistcoats. 'It looks gorgeous in the sweetie pink colour,' says da Prato, 'although some people find it quite itchy.'

Right now, mohair is certainly causing an itch all the fashion world wants to scratch.

(Photograph omitted)