Why Mickey Mouse is the ultimate fashion muse

More than a cartoon, on November 18, Mickey Mouse celebrated his 90th birthday as America's most beloved emblem. First appearance in the 1928 drawing of Walt Disney and master animator Ub Iwerks Steamboat Willie, The animated Disney hero has been in fashion for nine decades, bringing together generations of fans from around the world, including fashion models, fashion designers, pop stars and punk rock.

Charming naïve black and white drawings to the winners Fancyfrom pop art to pop music, vintage t-shirts to cult designer pieces, this anthropomorphic mouse has been engraved in every corner of the culture, but it's the fashion world that continues to be inspired by its immediately recognizable image. Against all odds, Mickey has become an ever-chic pin-up. Whether in its purest and most populist form or in a surrealist and more subverted iteration, nothing says more cool than an Americana as cool as a T-shirt with the Mickey logo. Check out Pat Cleveland, Kate Moss and Anya Ziourova for proof.

Beyond vintage styles, at age 90, Mickey is now an important iconographic element, as famous and experienced as stars and stripes or peas. High fashion tributes to the mascot created by Marc Jacobs, Gucci and more recently Jeremy Scott in his Moschino [tv] Collaboration H & M (above), continues to reaffirm its cult status among the fashion crowd. Whether it's in the form of a simple black silhouette or in the form of a full-color pattern, Mickey breathes a welcome sense of sartorial amusement. While the famous mouse celebrates its 90th anniversary with capsule collections including Levis, Vans, Mango, Uniqlo, OVS and many others, Vogue greet the fashion stars who helped make the all-American cartoon the ultimate muse.