Pyjamas are not seen as just sleepwear anymore. The right design can be styled in a way as daytime wear. Photo: Instagram/Liberty London
At a time when an abundance of superfake handbags and clothing dupes has made it easier than ever to buy versions of items once considered hard to get, those who value provenance have found a new way to flaunt it with pyjamas.
Specifically, pyjama sets from small labels in European cities known for being stops on the Grand Tour. Typically made locally with cotton fabrics and in classic cuts associated with menswear, the pyjamas have become a new souvenir of choice for some people – and a way to signal their discerning taste.
“There is a European-ness attached to these pyjamas because they come from heritage stores,” said Laila Gohar, an artist who owns styles from labels in Italy and Austria.
“We are seeing women bring them from Europe to America.”
Her collection includes pyjama sets from P Le Moult in Vienna, which start at US$247 (approximately RM1,097); from Casa Del Bianco in Milan, which start at US$120 (RM533) and are offered in prints such as Liberty London florals; and from Schostal Originals in Rome, which start at €195 (RM915).
Other popular makers include Paris Em Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal, where pyjama sets start at €110 (RM516); and Magniberg, a newer Swedish brand founded by a former Acne Studios designer, where styles start at €292 (RM1,371).
Buying the brands’ products doesn’t require traveling: Styles from each are sold online.
As are pyjamas from like-minded companies outside Europe such as Foo Tokyo in Toyko, which is known for a double-breasted pyjama set inspired by formal jackets at US$370 (RM1,643), and Comme Si in New York, which makes its pyjamas with Italian cotton traditionally used for dress shirts at US$450 (RM1,998).
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Gohar, 36, founder of the home goods brand Gohar World, said her pyjamas have an oversize fit and enough polish for her to wear them in public with a trench coat and ballet flats – on one condition.
“They have to be ironed,” she said.
“It’s the anti yoga pant,” Gohar added. “Yoga pants are very much an American invention that we are sadly exporting to the rest of the world.”
Of course, she is far from alone in wearing sleepwear out and about. Nightgowns and so-called nap dresses became a common uniform when pants were being traded for less restrictive attire during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before that, Jenna Lyons popularised the habit of dressing up pyjama sets – like the white one she wore beneath rhinestone mesh to the Met Gala in 2015 – when she was the creative director and president of J Crew.
Artist Julian Schnabel is known to some as much for his mixed-media paintings as he is for wearing pyjama sets to exhibition openings.
For those who like the pyjama look but not the thought of wearing nightclothes during the day, Cristaseya, a brand in Paris, offers rarefied pyjama-inspired ensembles made of Swiss and Japanese cotton, which start at about US$1,750 (RM7,771).
“I find matching sets much more chic and elegant – it’s like a uniform,” said Cristina Casini, a founder of the brand, adding that its sets were influenced by a vintage style from the 1920s.
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Schostal Originals is currently shipping about 75% of its online orders to the United States, said Andrew Bloch Fiorelli, who owns the company with his mother.
It recently introduced pyjama shirts without piping and pockets that are meant to look less like sleepwear.
The business is separate from another in Rome called Schostal, which does not offer the exact same products and is run by other members of Fiorelli’s family.
Celebrities like Harry Styles and Gwyneth Paltrow have visited the Schostal Originals store, as well as fashion writers and others who have mentioned the old-fashioned shop in newsletters or on social media.
Megan Neligan, 30, who works in renewable energy in Los Angeles, likened her experience there in October to visiting a museum.
“It tapped into the history and culture of Italian craftsmanship,” she said. – ©2024 The New York Times Company
