For most of their history, belts have had a simple practical purpose: to hold up your pants. The biggest style advice given about them was equally as utilitarian: they should match your bag and shoes. But the belts shown across the spring 2027 runways aren’t quite like their predecessors. They were often comically large or ironically itty bitty. They had secret uses, and they crept onto other areas of the body like an invasive vine. They were replacing chokers, embellishing necklines, and sitting aimlessly, though chicly, below the hips. They’re made to be seen, and they are, for better or worse, the breakout accessory of the moment.
Is it a response to shrinking waists in the age of Ozempic? Is it symptomatic of the death of quiet luxury? Or are fashion houses simply trying to hype up another class of ‘It’ accessories to compliment their bag and shoe sales?
Whatever the case, they’re certain not boring. Here, the wildest belts from the spring 2027 runways.
MM6 Maison Margiela’s New Necklines
For spring 2027, MM6 championed clothes that just seemed “wrong.” Sweaters became skirts. Pants morphed into minidresses. Collegiate collars were turned on their side and used, rather effectively, as arm loops. The belt, too, was given a new look. It was brought way up past the waistline to the chest, where it became a bust decoration instead.
Givenchy’s Covert Compact Mirrors
Sarah Burton is a designer who thinks about women’s bodies. Beyond what looks good, she asks what feels good, with tailoring techniques and design details that serve the wearer in unseen ways. This came through in her belt offerings this season, which featured medallions with a secret second purpose. The statement disks opened to reveal compact mirrors—lightening the load of purses everywhere.
Alexander McQueen’s Heavy Metal
Is it a collar? Is it a harness? Is it a metallic suspender of sorts? The belts at Alexander McQueen delivered all of the above. Seán McGirr’s part Victorian gothicism, part rave-wear employed heavy-duty adornments with multiple straps. While the runway also had classic house suiting, it was the soft, silky evening gowns that got the belts. An effectively off-putting choice.
Celine Goes Both Ways
This season, Michael Rider’s joyful runway played with the extremities of the belt. Most talked-about were the thick leather iterations with supersized gilded buckles. On the opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum? Wiry cords that appeared almost as an afterthought. Both, however, were successful in drawing eyes to the waist.
Christopher Esber’s Ode to Elvis
Elvis Presley was on the mood board for Christopher Esber’s spring 2027 collection. Specifically, the designer looked to the flashy, studded belts that embellished the superstar’s suits in the 1950s. On the runway, that manifested in modernized takes on the rock-n-roll accessory, with belts that stretched up the torso before wrapping around the neck. Though these were presented with shift dresses instead of fit-and-flare jumpers, they still evoked Presley’s Las Vegas-era costumery.
Acne’s Tied-Up Trenches
Protective dressing was top of mind at Acne Studios, where belts were strapped across waists, chests, collars, and sometimes trousers for a small taste of traditionalism. Even with non-utilitarian designs, like warped Rococo ballgowns and loosely draped blouses, the idea of belts was never far—as buckles adorned tote straps and pointed loafers.
Ferragamo Does Double Duty
Maximillian Davis leaned into Ferragamo’s statement-belt legacy by finishing almost every look with a belt (or two). Suede capes and boxy blazers featured stacked leather straps, as did latex sheer sets and sexy going-out dresses. The result was a hit of polished hardware befitting cashmere-swathed dignitaries and skin-baring It-girls alike. Case in point: the collection looks right at home in the wardrobes of both Celine Dion and Dua Lipa.
Valentino’s Hourglass Drama
From 2010s-era studded straps to colorful fabric cummerbunds, Valentino’s spring 2027 show delivered Alessandro-Michele-level drama by way of cinched waists. High-rise pencil skirts, peplum tops, and cardigans tucked into trousers emphasized the hourglass silhouette. But big belts got the message across best.
Gucci’s Severe Straps
Demna’s contribution to the belt renaissance came via his signature runway irony. Models with knife-sharp shoulders and smudged eye makeup balanced corporate dressing with vampiric edge, and thick belts offered a final touch of intensity. Whether worn high on midsections or slung below the hips, the multi-buckled, bondage strap was an unmissable attraction that winked at Tom Ford-age sexiness.
Dries Van Noten’s Ageless Accessories
Grandmotherly codes—like strings of pearls, bedazzled brooches, and knee-length skirts—were supercharged with saturated palettes and cartoonish proportions. Belts were central to creative director Julian Klausner’s vision of practical, offbeat femininity, with patterned waistbands on everything from floral sack dresses to wrinkled bubble skirts.
