Mermaid blankets – this year’s answer to the onesie

Forget elves, Santa and reindeer – Christmas 2016 is all about the mermaid. Or, to put it more accurately, the mermaid blanket. Resembling a knitted sleeping bag with a fish-like tail, and available for children and adults, the mermaid blanket is this year’s answer to the slanket or the onesie.

Sceptics might not appreciate the slightly fishy design, not to mention the impracticality of whipping it off for that ad-break cup of tea, but this accessory has already become the most-watched deal on Amazon on Cyber Monday and a bestseller on Asos.

Anyone who uses public transport in London will be familiar with Blue Vanilla’s Ariel mermaid blanket – advertised on the tube with the image of a glamorous young woman on a couch, in full hair and makeup, blanket pulled up to her chest.

The online fast-fashion retailer has already sold more than 11,000 Ariels at £29 a pop, and has a waiting list of roughly 1,000 people. Online marketing manager Teresa Ktistaki predicts another 6,000 could be sold before Christmas. "It’s a nice gift because it’s useful but also fun," she says of the product, which was originally launched in October.

Mermaids have been a thing in pop culture for a while – from Azealia Banks’s Mermaid Ball performance in 2012 to Rebel Wilson’s mermaid dancing in Pitch Perfect, the Instagram trend for a #mermaidcrowns (a tiara made from conch shells), and the upcoming Splash remake starring Channing Tatum. Mermaid blankets are already massive on social media, with more than 27,000 posts for #mermaidblanket – and that’s before the tearing of wrapping paper on Christmas morning reveals several thousand more.

Celebrities including Geordie Shore’s Holly Hagan have further boosted the chances of finding a mermaid blanket under the tree – in September, she posted a picture on Twitter of her wearing one, accessorised with a Barbie-like manicured hand.

It is reality TV stars such as Hagan, says Ktistaki, who influence her customers as well as the current cross-generation preoccupation with mythical undersea creatures. "The feedback we’re getting is that everyone loves mermaids," she says. "Grandmothers, grandchildren … it’s a bit of a dream."

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