Paddington’s duffle coat gets a makeover with The Paddington Trail

With just under a month to go until the launch of the new Paddington Bear film (on 28th November, 2014 in the UK), the hype is on.

 

It starts today with the opening of The Paddington Trail in London.

 

The Trail consists of 50 brightly coloured statues of Paddington Bear that have been designed by celebrities, artists and designers, such as Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Lulu Guinness and David Beckham. Placed all around London, tourists and Londoners can make like Paddington and set off to explore the city, moving from statue to statue.

 

Two of the statues will eventually be auctioned off to raise funds for the NSPCC, a charity which helps children at risk of neglect in the UK. Paddington has been the official mascot of the NSPCC for over 35 years, symbolising as he does, the needs of vulnerable children (and bears!) arriving alone in a strange city, in need of care. We’re pretty sure Mr and Mrs Brown would approve.

 

 

At Dufflecoats UK we are understandably very excited about the release of Paddington – he’s the standard bearer for a duffle coat after all – and so we’ve been over to visitlondon.com/paddington for a sneak peek at the brightly decorated bears.

 

Here’s a rundown of our favourites.

 

Top marks goes to the leading brand of rugby clothes and equipment, Canterbury of New Zealand, for their play on words. Their bear is called Paws Engage – get it? We love the humour, but we’re not sure Paddington will manage the Hakka or score a try in a fully-buttoned up duffle coat.

 

 

The current Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi, has called his statue Paddington Who? and the duffle coat is emblazoned with the Tardis. Perhaps Tardis-themed duffle coats will catch on for next season?

 

London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has adorned Paddington’s coat with images of London and called it, ‘The Bear of London’. And Emma Watson – Hermione from the Harry Potter films – has painted bright Peruvian butterflies across Paddington’s white duffle coat.

 

We’re not so sure about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s contribution. It features Paddington looking very like a cat and is called, ‘Paddington Lloyd Webbear’. We feel that’s taking self-absorption a little too far.

 

David Beckham’s bear is called Golden Paws and Benedict Cumberbatch’s bear – Sherlock Bear – replaces Paddington’s usual hat with Sherlock’s trademark deer stalker.

 

And what did Paddington’s creator, Michael Bond, do with his statue of Paddington? He stayed true to his bear. Paddington is dressed in the trademark blue duffle coat (we think it’s a men’s short duffle), painted his hat red and made sure the famous ‘Please look after this bear’ label was clearly visible.

 

We love the fact that London will be all about Paddington and the duffle coat for the next couple of months. The film looks great for adults and children, have you seen the trailer yet?

 

 

Take a look at the Paddington statues, and see the map of the Paddington Trail.

And if you want to buy a duffle coat to be just like Paddington? You’re in exactly the right place. See our duffle coats!