Welcome to the summer of the fidget spinner. With our cumulative anxiety at an all-time high, the highly ‘grammable, supposedly calming toys have quickly become the new It accessory for children of all ages.
A quick history lesson: A Florida woman named Catherine Hettinger first invented fidget spinners back in 1993. She approached Hasbro with the idea, Hasbro passed. Then, in 2005, Hettinger’s patent expired and companies — Hasbro included — began designing their own fidget spinners. However, up until recently, the whirling toys were mostly used in a therapeutic context.
Now, not only has the craze gone global, it’s infiltrated the fashion world. To wit: Zana Bayne, the brand behind Beyoncé’s favorite haute harnesses, is now selling its own studded leather version of the popular toy.
“Our atelier team loves playing with spinners, and so at first it was a thought that we should create leather spinners for them. The spinners are already an aesthetic toy with an attractive shape, so it just made sense to make it happen. After the first ones were finished, we posted an image and video on Instagram; the reaction was immediate,” designer Zana Bayne and her partner, Todd Pendu, told Vogue. “We like to think everything looks better in leather.” An elementary school fad with a BDSM aesthetic? It doesn’t get any better than that.
Zana Bayne’s “Studded Leather Fidget Spinner” is now available to shop on the brand’s e-commerce site. Customers have a choice of black or vegetable-tanned beige leather. At $75 a pop, these chic low-tech toys ring in well above your typical street-side buys, but that’s the price you pay for looking chic whilst achieving zen.
Studs and leather not your thing? Don’t worry. Something tells us Zana Bayne won’t be the only high-end brand to jump in on the fad. (Jeremy Scott, for one, has never met a pop culture craze he didn’t like.) Or, per model Alanna Arrington, match your outfit to your spinner to instantly elevate its plasticized appearance.
yellow model chick, yellow fidget spinnin’
A post shared by lana (@alannaarrington) on
[ via Vogue ]
