The playful allure of comb necklaces The summer trend between past and present

In 2023, as often happens, Leandra Medine had already seen it coming. That January, the founder of the blog Man Repeller published The commercial trend report, her predictions for that year’s fashion trends. Wearing «objects as necklaces» was the first item on the list, with The Row’s comb-shaped necklace serving as the guiding star of the category. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many of the trends and micro-trends of recent years have drawn inspiration from the Olsen twins’ brand collections. A single detail from a lookbook is often enough to spark seasonal crazes that will keep any fast fashion brand afloat: this was the case with the Ginza flip-flop sandals and the mesh ballet flats. This year, the trend arrived fashionably late, straight from look 15 of the Pre-Fall 2023 collection, presented in Paris in September of the previous year. It was a comb-shaped pendant, ironically placed to brighten up an elegant black satin slip dress. «A bit of dissonance, a touch of playfulness, blurring and softening their exquisite clothes», wrote Mark Holgate about the show. And it is precisely in that object, hung around the neck with a thin leather cord (meant to help justify its hefty $1,550 price tag), that the playful spirit of our present moment is hidden.

But let’s take a step back. Using everyday objects, like a comb, for purposes other than the one they were designed for is not so absurd. Even Princess Ariel used the “dinglehopper,” essentially just a battered fork, to style her red hair. Nor is it surprising that this urge to indulge in slightly less literal uses has surfaced in the middle of the ongoing revival of 2010s fashion. A major comeback initially signaled by the new wave of popularity of Isabel Marant’s “ugly sneakers” (Google searches for which have risen by +110% compared to last year) and, later, by the spike in searches coinciding with Mark Rider’s debut, for the Celine Phantom Bag (launched by Phoebe Philo back when the brand’s name still carried the accented “é”) and the Chloé Paddington. In jewelry, before minimalism took over, layered necklaces with a deliberately baroque flair were the norm. A quick stroll through the Spring-Summer 2010 runway archives reveals the defining accessories of the following six years: Lanvin’s chunky chains, Bottega Veneta’s embedded stones, and Vera Wang’s web-like necklace. You’ll agree, then, that the return of oversized necklaces could only be the natural next step in this wave of nostalgia. However, The Row’s brass comb, the size of a palm and far from affordable for the average consumer, speaks volumes about this new chapter. First, it tells us we may actually like combs, given the variations by Nina Gordon, Lemaire, Marina Moscone, and Massimo Dutti, along with the DIY projects circulating online.

Stylist and personal shopper Federica Gervasoni often chooses it to complete summer looks. But she also tells us about a trend that has returned (true to fashion’s inherent cyclicality) in a new form, following the wave of that quiet luxury we’ve all basked in over the past few years. Today, those exaggerated necklaces have taken on a more sophisticated look, materializing as everyday objects with an unlikely utilitarian twist. «This has cemented the functional necklace as an accessory that, to me, is absolutely chic, whether you choose to wear a poison bottle (ideal) or a key on a string. Perhaps it’s my love for the beauty of an everyday object. And the possibilities, as they say, are endless», writes Christina Grasso, author of the newsletter The Pouf. The comb necklace combines a sense of familiarity, the desire for versatility and pragmatism that comes with turning any object into jewelry, and the urge to have an unexpected and playful accessory, one that might raise more than a few eyebrows. On the endless possibilities opened up by this new trend, Linda Cui Zhang, Associate Fashion Director at Nordstrom, adds to the SCMP: «People want their clothes to be functional, and there’s this desire for versatile, multi-purpose pieces that can transition across events and occasions». So the comb pendant, despite its refined look and the subtraction of every superfluous element, represents a new form of eclecticism that whispers a sense of playfulness and curious unpredictability, rather than shouting it to the world. Which, if you think about it, mirrors the current trajectory of the fashion industry—able to afford anything except loud, boisterous laughter.