Recently, fashion has been in a maximal mood. We have seen hair bows, rosettes, pearls, and corsages. The next logical step was the brooch. Except this time, it is not behaving like a stiff accessory pinned to a lapel. On the Fall/Winter 2025 runways, designers treated it like a styling tool. Carolina Herrera and Tory Burch sent out sculptural floral pins. Lacoste and Moschino used them to give personality to clean looks. Isabel Marant pinned mixed metals on relaxed boho outfits.
Then, a season later, Spring Summer 2026 arrived, and the message was even clearer. N°21, Giorgio Armani, Mugler, Valentino and of course Chanel put brooches front and center—literally. Simone Rocha flexed her creative muscles to give us giant bow-shaped brooches. So how did this old-world item end up as the new fashion fixation? The answer is that it has always been powerful. It only needed a fresher context.
Brooches go way back. Bronze Age back. Originally, they were practical clips made from whatever people could find. Flint. Thorns. Simple metals. The purpose was to keep clothes together. Over centuries, different cultures started to decorate them. Byzantium covered them in pearls and enamel to signal status. Victorians romanticized them. Royals used them to tell stories and make statements. Queen Elizabeth II owned what is believed to be close to a hundred brooches and chose them carefully for occasions. Many of her pieces carried small private meanings.
So the piece was never irrelevant. It was simply formal. Which is why seeing it splashed across the runway felt exciting.
Two things are happening in fashion. First, people want individuality. Second, people want a quick transformation. A brooch is perfect for both. In a way, it is an extension of the small but customizable style options offered by bag charms and other minuscule accessories. One day it sits on a blazer. The next day, it moves to a bag strap. Then it anchors a scarf. You do not need a stylist to do it. You do not need a whole new outfit. You only need one good piece.
HOW TO STYLE A BROOCH
This is the fun part. A brooch does not have to sit on the left lapel of a blazer anymore. It can climb to the shoulder of a dress. It can secure a sarong skirt. It can close a cardigan. It can be pinned at the waist of a coat to create shape. It can sit in the middle of a neckline. It can even live on a handbag or a silk scarf. If you do not own a brooch yet, you can cheat. Take a statement earring and anchor it to something slim like a turtleneck collar. Nobody will question it.
If the brooch is large, keep the rest of the jewelry simple. If it is delicate, layer two or three of the same tone. Brooches look great with structure, so place them where there is a seam, lapel, or fold. If the outfit is loud, pick a classic shape like a flower or a disk. If the outfit is quiet, go for something sculptural or colored.
