Designers draw frequently draw inspiration from Hitchcock's women of mystery. So why are his famous blondes always in style?

Alfred Hitchcock loved blondes, but he famously dismissed Marilyn Monroe as too "obvious". So, it's a little surprising that Scarlett Johansson – Monroe's modern-day equivalent, complete with curves and pillow lips – is starring in next month's Hitchcock, the biopic that recounts the making of Psycho. She plays Janet Leigh, a woman definitely more in Hitchcock's favoured buttoned-up mould. But while the casting may seem a stretch, one thing is certain – the film will encourage yet another tryst between fashion and the director's heroines.

Hitchcock heroines have become a style trope – classics rolled out as a reference on the catwalk every so often, just like Edie Sedgwick, Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour or Kurt Cobain. Alexander McQueen famously presented a Hitchcock collection for autumn/winter 2005 and, with its angora sweaters,...