First, the chunky chains clattered in. Then came the sporty sneakers, stampeding through the streets. Now the necktie—the strict uniform of Catholic teens and finance bros at Wall Street—has folded into women’s wardrobes, rewired for maximum mischief.
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The tie has found new life. It swings in bold colors, metallic flashes, and shapes that could’ve been dreamt up by a Dali painting on a Saturday night. Some are knotted at the throat in classic preparation; others hang loose and louche, essentially the equivalent of a cool shrug. Whether slim and sharp or wide enough to double as a scarf, the necktie is now an unexpected flourish, a cheeky wink, or a golden feather courtesy of LOEWE.
Fashion’s current love affair with masculine-feminine crosscurrents paved the way. Saint Laurent dialed up the drama by slipping Michelle Pfeiffer into a slouchy power suit in their S/S25 campaign, all American Psycho realness with a dash of Left Bank ennui.
At heart, the tie’s appeal is a sign of masculine dress codes gleefully swiped and recoded. One moment it’s slung around the neck with sly irreverence; the next, it’s cinched at the waist, layered like a rogue’s sash, or knotted into pants, if you’re feeling especially devil-may-care.
The new rules of engagement? There are none. Try it loose and oversized with denim. Thread it through a miniskirt as a sly subversion. Pile on a second tie for stylistic complication. Or skip the shirt altogether, letting the tie steal the spotlight like a slippery silk dare.
Nowadays, ties are an attitude—one that says, with a sly grin, that some rules are better when undone or newly rewritten for the contemporary audience.
Photos: SAINT LAURENT, RALPH LAUREN, LOUIS VUITTON, LOEWE, FERRARI, MOSCHINO, ANDREAS KRONTHALER FOR VIVIENNE WESTWOOD and JW ANDERSON
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