Pudsey, the Children in Need bear, gets a couture make-over!

The iconic Children in Need bear, Pudsey, has undergone one almighty transformation as some of the hottest designers in the fashion industry have lent their talents to the charity toy and created their very own versions of the formerly yellow bear.

The collection of bears is being auctioned to raise money for the Children in Need charity, with big designer names including Mulberry, Giles Deacon, Katie Hillier, Henry Holland and Erdem getting on board.

“I absolutely love children, almost all of the influences for my own label Hillier come from either children’s books, childhood memories of mine or from a playful childlike point of view,” said Katie Hillier when asked why she got involved with the charity.

“When I started to think about the design of Pudsey, I wanted to make sure that children would understand it and would be drawn to it.”

The bears will come in an array of different fabrics, patterns and colours, with each one being unique to the designer who lovingly and thoughtfully created it.

Giles Deacon, for example, turned to his latest spring/summer 2012 collection for inspiration as he transformed Pudsey into a silver leather T-Bird style bear, while Patrick Grant, Henry Holland and Jonathan Saunders went for varied tartan patterns.

And what was Pudsey like during his mega makeover, you ask?

“Pudsey was great to work with and not as much of a diva as I had thought,” Henry Holland said, while Erdem added, “it was fun to work with Pudsey. He was very pleasant.”

The bears will be exhibited in Liberty from 7-19 November and will then be auctioned off to raise money for Children in Need. Louis Vuitton and Pringle have also designed their own Pudseys, though they’ll be arriving ‘fashionably late’ in the coming weeks.

Head to bbc.co.uk/Pudsey to check the auction out and flick through our gallery below to find your favourite fashion bear.

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