Marni's fashionable take on Ladurée

Let’s get one thing straight – it’s fashionable to be a foodie. Cookery book sales are booming, the TV is full of Jamie, Gordon and Heston, and a new Michelin guide features in mainstream news rather than being relegated to the back pages. These days, we all like to think we’re a MasterChef and taking an interest in the provenance of your food is no longer the province of the ardent food-geek.

Never being ones to miss an opportunity, fashion houses have started to milk our newfound foodieness with numerous gourmet collaborations. Ladurée, the French macaron expert, has collaborated with both Christian Louboutin and Marni in the last year, producing delicate sugary delights as beautiful as the fashion they were inspired by. The latest fashion and food pairing taking place in the French capital comes from Thierry Mugler and Café de la Paix. And Mugler’s Pop Fizz patisseries look almost as delectable as his catwalk creations.

In December 2009, British designer Giles Deacon, best known for his playful womenswear designs and now Creative Director for Ungaro, created a dress for the Cadbury Caramel Bunny. Even former model Sophie Dahl has a cookery show, albeit a somewhat unsuccessful one. It seems food and fashion are firm friends.

In fact foodies have been cashing in on fashion for a long time. The Berkeley Hotel‘s afternoon tea has been legendary amongst London fashionistas for several years, and evolves every six months with the latest collections. The fashion-themed Pret-a-Portea currently features Burberry trench biscuits, a chocolate truffle Mulberry Bayswater bag and a dark chocolate Christian Lacroix dress, along with the more traditional selection of savoury nibbles and fine teas. More recently, the Mandeville Hotel has launched a similar fashion-themed affair, where pink meringues and designer cupcakes are served on plates designed by Zandra Rhodes.

In fact if cake and fashion seem to go hand in hand, perhaps we should blame Sex and the City. Ever since Carrie and pals started scoffing designer cupcakes at New York’s Magnolia Bakery, we don’t seem to be able to get away from the things. And the cupcake invasion has been taken one step further by stylist Lisa Edsalv and photographer Therese Aldgard, with a set of five gorgeous designer-inspired cakes – from Christian Louboutin to Chanel.

Roberto's vodka and Karl's coke

But however fashionable food may be, stuffing your face with sugary treats and fitting into this season’s latest body-con bandage dress are perhaps not entirely compatible ideas. For some time now, the fashion industry has been heavily criticised for its obsession with using stick-thin models on the runway. Although, according to this video, the size zero debate just refuses to go away.

Kate Moss added fuel to the fire late last year when she declared her motto was “nothing tastes as great as skinny feels”, a quote often featured on pro-anorexia websites. Looks like she won’t be tucking into any Spring/Summer 2010 hued cupcakes anytime soon then…

In fact, Roberto Cavalli’s vodka and Karl Lagerfeld’s Diet Coke bottle might be a more fitting fashion-food pairing. With one of each you could make the fashionista’s cocktail of choice, the ultra-low calorie Skinny Bitch.

We all know that the fashion world is a fickle one, and here at Running in Heels we won’t be getting our knickers in a twist about the unfairness of making food trendy. We’ll be enjoying our favourite fashion inspired treats when we can. Everything in moderation means you can have your (Marni) cake and eat it too!