As the British summer falls flat on its face with yet another false start, a new fashion trend is on the rise. The midi-length skirt – with a hemline which falls below the knee and is most often written off as dowdy – is on course to be the sleeper fashion hit of the summer.

Thanks to an unlikely trio of factors including the blustery weather throughout the spring, Victoria Beckham's much-photographed personal wardrobe and a glut of hipster pop stars pictured at the Coachella festival, in California the midiskirt is being hailed as the skirt of the season.

The shape even scored a red carpet success earlier in the week. Fashion commentators praised the actor Carey Mulligan's appearance at the Met Ball in New York wearing a midi-length dress by Balenciaga at fashion's most high-profile event.

"The midi is grownup but slightly subversive," says Katherine Ormerod, senior fashion news and features editor at the magazine Grazia, "and that is a winning combination."

"It's a length that has been ignored for some time but women are rediscovering it," says Jane Shepherdson, chief executive of high street fashion retailer Whistles.

Retailers across the price spectrum are seeing a steady increase in sales. At the high-end e-tailer net-a-porter.com, sales of the midi length are 10% faster than other skirt shapes.

Meanwhile, insiders at the online fashion retailer Asos report that sales of the midi, which is on the front page of the site as a "right now piece", are up at least 200% on last year.

Part of the midi's success lies in its appeal across the fashion generations. Women in their 20s who are tuned into the celebrity aesthetic of Solange Knowles and Rita Ora are wearing the hemline, as are fortysomething women looking for a more grown-up look for the coming summer.

"It's an elegant length," says Sarah Curren of mywardrobe.com "I think you would be surprised as to who is buying them. It's as much twentysomething women as fortysomething women. The younger women see it on Victoria Beckham as her length of choice and for slightly older women it's a really flattering shape and length."

Fashion commentators agree that the midi trend will outlive the summer. "Fashion at the moment is completely polarised between a hip, street aesthetic, and a minimal ultra-luxe stealth look – both of which have a place for the midiskirt," says Ormerod.

Shepherdson, in common with many retailers, has a vested interest in the look lasting. In the autumn Whistles will stock a midi-length leather skirt which has already attracted a waiting list of fashion insiders.

Who is wearing them?

Molly Richards, 21, student

Molly Richards

I got this skirt

from a stall in Camden

for £10. Midi length is the

only length for a

blustery English

summer because it

doesn't blow up in

the wind. It's

the perfect length

when you don't want

show off too much

flesh and when

you wear your socks

with them you don't

have to flash

any leg at all.









Ting Zhi, 21, student

Ting Zhi

I got this

from Bangkok.

It's actually

a school skirt.

I think midi-length

skirts are popular

because they

are really easy

to match with

anything and

much more

suited to the

freezing British

weather.























Aija Koke, 20, student

Aija Koke

I got this

dress from H&M.

I love that these

lengths are in

fashion because

they are the most

flattering cut on

figures and can

be worn with

anything. You

don't feel too

body-conscious

in them either.



























Anastasia Achilleos, 37, facialist

Anastasia Achilleos

I got this

dress from Zara

last year. I'm

glad there are

midi-length skirts

in all the shops

right now because

they are so elegant

and easy to dress

up. You can wear

them in the day

without feeling

overdressed and

dress them up

for night-time too.

















Kuzivakwashe Punungwe-Mutandiro, 23, administrator

Kuzivakwashe Punungwe-Mutandiro

The dress I'm wearing

is from Asos. Midi-length

dresses are just

easier to function in.

I think with the whole

60s Mad Men revival

there's a lot of these

styles available on

the high street. Also,

crop tops are in fashion

right now and they go

really well with

midi-length skirts and

dresses.