iStyle: If you like piña coladas

Spiky yet sweet - the fashion pack is feeling fruity as pineapple emblems make this summer totally tropical, says Stephanie Hirschmiller

Jeanette Winterson was right when she wrote that Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. Right now, with many designers placing it centre stage, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the only fruit, in the fashion fruit bowl at least, is the pineapple.

For Moschino Cheap and Chic, Rossella Jardini sent the spiky fruit down the catwalk emblazoned in glorious technicolour across everything from pant suits to bikinis and even bags – which are flying off the shelves. “I was inspired to use pineapples in the collection as they fit in perfectly with the tropical colour palette,” says Jardini, creative director of the house. “They added a playful element and worked as a print as well as a pineapple-shaped bag. Smaller pineapples could be seen on clasps of the handbags as well as earrings worn by the models.”

Young British designer Sophie Hulme chose the pineapple as the emblem for her spring summer collection, too – realised as a golden logo embellishing sweaters and accessories as well as woven into the lace of T-shirts and skirts. “I liked the way the pineapple is made up of patterns of geometric shapes,” she explains. “This led me to look at mathematical tessellations and use these for pattern and weave.” But what of the provenance? “One of my housemates always does Club Tropicana as her karaoke song,” she laughs.

Edgardo Osorio, the Columbian behind breakout shoe brand Aquazurra, has gone one further and, in addition to creating a tufted “Piña Colada” stiletto, has appropriated the pineapple as his emblem, embossing a golden version on the soles of all his shoes. He drew inspiration from sculptures of the fruit – a symbol of hospitality – welcoming guests at Capri’s JK Palace hotel. “John F Kennedy’s dad had a four-poster bed with four pineapples at the corners,” he quips, “so it was an extremely welcoming bed!”

However, the influence of the pineapple is not limited to the fashion sphere, as the giant pineapple installation by Bompas & Parr currently floating in Kew Gardens lake attests.