Sonic The Hedgehog's Surprising Influence On Fashion

The first time I saw a Sonic-branded face mask my first thought was, "Why?" Isn't Sonic kinda dorky? But not only has the fashion and beauty industry heralded Sonic over the years, he even walked a runway in 2007.

Carri Munden is a fashion designer who founded lifestyle brand Cassette Playa in 2006. She showed at London Fashion Week for 12 seasons. "I was interested in alternatives to catwalk," Munden said over email. "My brand was built in and for a post internet generation, so both my designs and the way I communicated collections reflected that." This meant augmented reality fashion shows, 3D printed props, and a touring purikura gif booth.

Munden's work is deeply intertwined with technology, and in 2007, that brought her to Sonic the Hedgehog. "For me Sonic is an iconic character — his character design and also his speed makes him one of the coolest gaming characters ever," she said. Her 2007 show drew its inspiration from the famous Green Hill Zone, drawing direct reference from the the level's colour palette and some of its glitched-out graphics.

Sonic's appearances in fashion collections didn't end with Munden, and in the past year he's been becoming more and more popular. He's on Glamglow products — they're re-releasing their Gravitymud mask with art that includes Knuckles and Tails. Japanese sneaker brand Annipon released Sonic shoes that look like the character's classic footwear. And last year, UK brand Drop Dead had an entire Sonic themed collection for the franchise's anniversary.

"I think for all of us it was such a fun project that let us relive our youth a bit," said Ben Normanton, one the graphic designers at Drop Dead. Almost all the staff had played Sonic growing up, but the team also did a lot of research into Sega's archives to put their collection together. He said it was a fun project, and that working on something Sonic related let them relive their youth a little bit.