Is This The End Of Dainty Jewellery?

Cast your mind back to the early 2010s. Or more specifically, your early 2010s jewellery wardrobe. If I was to wager a guess, I might assume it included some of Diva’s (RIP) zipper earrings in a fluorescent shade of pink or orange, a statement necklace or two (at least one with an owl pendant), and maybe even a few cuffs — studded for the goths, rubber and neon for… everyone else.

Sure, our jewellery wardrobes of the early 2010s were far from perfect. Tasteful? Not particularly. Elegant? Far from it. But did they have a personality? Most definitely. Somewhere along the way — probably between the years of 2015 and 2025 — we waved goodbye to that devil-may-care sensibility when it came to our jewels, replacing it with a far quieter, much more dainty approach. Barely-there chains, maybe with a discreet letter or stone, sent the owls into extinction. Miniscule diamond studs took the place of swinging, bejewelled ear chandeliers, and bracelets all but disappeared, save for a soldered-on chain or tennis bracelet.

A runway look at Dries Van Noten. Image: Getty

But do you hear that? The jingle-jangle of strands of beads. The clinking and clanging of stacked bracelets. The twinkling sound of crystals hanging from lobes. On the spring/summer runways, the designers threw down the gauntlet: dainty jewellery is done. It’s time to return to heft, weight, drama!

It’s little wonder that Chanel led the pack with navel-grazing strands, made to look like beads but really were woven from fabric. One of the most iconic images that exists of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel is a portrait of her seated, strands upon strands of pearls wound around her neck. Layers of jewels became one of Chanel’s signatures, and even though she famously said “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off,” the rule didn’t apply to her necklaces.

Ears were adorned at Chanel’s spring/summer 2027 show too: circular enamel rounds trimmed with gold; clusters of gems; strands of feathers. At the House’s recent cruise replica show in Sydney, we were reminded of the enamel seashells that encased ears, the angel fish pendants strung with pearls and diamantés, the sea-urchin studs made from glass beads and resin that were first presented in Biarritz in April. Matthieu Blazy’s collection of extroverted jewellery in his debut show a year ago can be credited with sparking the flame, but plenty of designers seemed to be feeling a similar desire for glamour and costume jewellery grandeur in their spring/summer 2027 collections too.

The sentiment was certainly palpable at Julian Klausner’s show for Dries Van Noten. Metallic and resin beads woven around the first model’s neck set the tone for a collection designed for a magpie. Collars were affixed with brooch-like pendants, glimmering with stones and coloured enamel. Ears received similar treatment, with lobes covered in handfuls of beads and sequins, as if collected by a bowerbird that gravitates towards all colours, not just blue. Brooches encrusted with gems secured cardigans and cinched waists, making a case for jewellery that goes beyond ears, necks and wrists.

A runway look at Saint Laurent. Image: Getty

Meanwhile, for Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent, going out with a bang called for more than just a show of gold looks in front of a twinkling Eiffel Tower. Giant golden chandeliers — much like the ones that hung above the runway — swung from lobes, grazing shoulders as the models walked. The jewellery took its cues from the Baroque period, with molten gold accented with amber and ruby cabochons.

As summer approaches here in the Southern Hemisphere, more skin on display means more space to accessorise. A simple cotton tank suddenly becomes far more interesting when worn with a chunky resin necklace, and that post-beach slick-back looks a lot chicer when shoulder-grazing earrings are pulling the focus. Take your styling cues from the runways — sometimes, even Coco Chanel thought more was more.