They have long been a strictly practical accessory for Bake Off contestants, fiery chef Gordon Ramsay and Last Of The Summer Wine's iconic Nora Batty.

But the 'strength and quiet power' of the humble apron is now being celebrated by fashionistas – with a blue pinny on sale in Harrods for an eye-watering £1,470.

The Miu Miu garment, in ink-blue gabardine, was paraded on the catwalk by German actress Sandra Hüller for Paris Fashion Week last year.

Created by fashion designer Miuccia Prada, who owns luxury brands Prada and Miu Miu, the power-dressing pinny boasts two useful pockets and a simple tie fastening, and also comes in a light blue or white poplin at the same price, or in black calfskin leather – at a cost of £3,600.

For that price, you could buy 240 classic butcher stripe aprons in John Lewis for £15 each. But this is not just high fashion for the kitchen.

The Crown star Emma Corrin sported a floral Miu Miu pinny to last year's BFI London Film Festival, and with fashion bible British Vogue recently asking, 'Can An Apron Be Fashion?' (conclusion: yes), it seems the apron has been elevated into a style statement.

Harrods' website contains a somewhat breathless description of the garment, declaring that it celebrates 'the responsibilities of everyday life' which are 'often overlooked' – such as 'washing clothes, feeding your family, polishing the mantel'. Indeed, the apron 'transforms the ordinary into something extraordinary', it says.

'This cotton gabardine design pays homage to what is often dismissed as provincial, elevating it onto a stage where its strength and quiet power can finally be recognised,' it adds.

What Ms Batty would have made of that is unclear. And, after all, the aprons are not exactly practical.

While the poplin ones can be bunged in the washing machine, the gabardine ones need to be hand washed separately in cold water and line dried in the shade, or dry cleaned.

Prada has long been interested in utilitarian fashion, from creating backpacks in the 1980s out of parachute nylon to juxtaposing traditional male and industrial fashions with splashes of feminine glamour.

Harrods and MiuMiu were approached for comment.