Madonna's done it, so has Kate Moss – even Liam Gallagher's launched his own clothing line. But at last, fashion is taking a more literary bent as Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland collaborates on a limited collection of clothing and accessories.

From jackets to scarves, caps and bracelets, the Roots x Douglas Coupland line is intended, said the author of Generation X and Girlfriend in a Coma, to "explore a new way of seeing Canada" far removed from "birch bark and moose and Mounties".

"I've never really seen too much difference between writing or making visual art or designing furniture or clothing. It's still my brain – I'm just using different parts of it for different things," said Coupland on the Roots website.

"I began doing writing projects and art and design projects to explore a new way of seeing Canada. Roots is one more way of continuing this exploration. I want to present a wide-open Canadian sense of colour, adventure, communication and openness that defines our country."

Coupland's is not the only literary foray into fashion of recent weeks. An American firm has just launched an Ernest Hemingway-branded shoe collection. "Hand sewn by artisan craftsmen in South America", Thomas Raymond & Co's line of shoes "pay tribute" to the author's "colourful life, writings and travels", and have been praised by Hemingway's son Patrick.

"Hemingway was very fond of loafers. A lot of celebrity endorsements are phony, but not in this case. Hemingway had a great sense of style. He especially loved leather boots from Madrid," Patrick Hemingway told his local paper. "I love that you can wear these without socks. I hate socks. Hemingway hated socks too. Socks meant that summer was over and you were going back to school."