OLIVIA DEAN: Why younger Gen Z followers like me are swooning over Le Creuset?

Since we flew the nest, my older brother Alex and I have been eyeing a full set of cast iron Le Creuset pans in my parents’ kitchen. Recently, our mum said if we wanted them, we could take them; we have been fighting like toddlers ever since.

So now she’s threatening to have the full set – including a coffee pot she’s hidden away – written into her will. She won’t say whether she’s joking or not.

Why the fierce rivalry? For us 20-somethings, the brightly coloured French cookware is the ultimate status symbol.

I’ve always been obsessed – when I was a tot, Mum would unleash me in TK Maxx like a truffle pig so adept was I at spotting it – and now it’s taken over TikTok, with influencers posting their #LeCreuSlay hauls and screaming manically over any new collections.

At the weekend, social media was filled with videos of four-hour queues outside the company’s warehouse sale in Andover, Hampshire. Exhausted influencers jostled for half-price pots and gleefully claimed it was ‘worth it’, as police herded the middle-class hordes outside.

At the weekend, social media was filled with videos of four-hour queues outside Le Creuset’s warehouse sale in Andover, Hampshire

The brightly coloured French cookware is the ultimate status symbol, according to Olivia Dean

Exhausted influencers jostled for half-price pots and gleefully claimed it was ‘worth it’, as police herded the middle-class hordes outside

It wasn’t just the middle-aged elbowing their way to the front. For my image-obsessed generation, there’s nothing like haemorrhaging £305 on a casserole dish. It’s the definition of ‘quiet luxury’. Those in the know can spot its unfussy but distinct aesthetic.

Le Creuset’s homogenous designs mean you only need to choose the colour. It’s an easy way to say ‘I have taste’ without actually needing to have any. I once agreed to a date just because he handed me a drink in a blue Le Creuset mug at a house party. I barely noticed his face.

If you’re properly middle-class, you inherit your Le Creuset, but you can easily rectify this by loading up on your own. This kind of social mobility can be bought at John Lewis. But real fans look for second-hand pieces; with a slightly battered set you can feign generational wealth.

The quality of Le Creuset is seductive, too. Its classic, Trump-orange pots stand the test of time and the company will replace any broken knobs or handles free of charge.

With the zeitgeist turning away from fast fashion in all its forms, investing in something practical but beautiful feels more justifiable than buying another cheap flammable dress.

Social media users have told of the hours-long queues for a Le Creuset sale

Lines of buyers gathered at a warehouse in Andover in Hampshire over the weekend

YouTuber Emily Canham from Northamptonshire posted a TikTok video of herself cooking dinner – with her cast iron shell pink casserole dish (costing £255) at the forefront

Home decor account @at.home.with.missb showed off their £134 cream Smeg kettle

In a clever move after sales slumped by 20 per cent last year, Le Creuset savvily tapped into the 20-something market, releasing highly Instagrammable Valentine’s and Halloween ranges and limited-edition ‘petal’ pots, with lids shaped like delicate flowers. 

None of us can afford houses, after all, so why not cheer up our flat shares by spending any deposit money on a pink stovetop kettle?

So, I can’t say I’m surprised at all those hopefuls queuing up for the warehouse sale. I just can’t believe I missed it.