Lover of the Week Ellie Grace Cumming chooses tropical over seasonal with her vote winning golden pineapples
As leaves plummet and the sun sinks lower in a dreary sky, if thoughts turn to vegetables at all, the season predicates that pumpkins, chestnuts, even Brussels sprouts leap first to mind. Not so on the Loves stream. Here at AnOther, we’re rebelling against the tyranny of temperature with an explosion of all things tropical, and the clear winner in the unofficial “Fruit-of-the-week” competition is the pineapple. We’ve Loved it as a chandelier, a lamp, a fountain, a mirrored artwork, even a very gaudy house, but the outright favourite is this collection of gold pineapples, Loved by Another Man fashion editor Ellie Grace Cumming.
First originating in South America, the pineapple spread swiftly across the continent, reaching Central America and the Caribbean. Christopher Columbus encountered it on Guadaloupe in 1493, naming it piña de Indes and brought it back to Europe with a flourish, where it became a sensation. Near impossible to cultivate on European soil, it was the height of culinary exoticism, as well as being a heady sugar hit in a food culture that was largely devoid of sweetness. It soon became the ultimate symbol of wealth and opulence: Charles II commissioned an official portrait by Danckurts portraying the King receiving a pineapple as a gift from his head gardener John Rose, and desperate hostesses would go to the lengths of hiring a pineapple from the grocer to sit on at the heart of their table displays, then returning it the next day.
Today the fresh pineapple has lost something of its exclusivity; however the strength of feeling on the loves stream shows that its decorative merits are still going strong. Here we speak to Cumming about her personal pineapple preferences.
Why did you Love these golden pineapples?
They were such a strikingly fabulous collection, I have seen single ones before, but never a set!
Where would you put them if you had them?
They belong on display on a 1930s Cocktail cabinet.
What would be the best fruit costume for Halloween?
A pumpkin head – like Christina Ricci in 'Mermaids'.
What is your favourite pineapple reference in fashion?
Prada's pineapple skirt from S/S11.
What is your favourite way to consume pineapples?
As a cocktail on a beach!
What's your favourite fruit focused scene on film?
The food fight in Hook or Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
What are you looking forward to about Halloween/Bonfire Night?
Watching the parade in New York down 6th Avenue!
What was the last thing you bought?
Morrissey's Autobiography.
