Gen Z is going crazy over this accessory loved by your grandma: ‘Perfect’

It’s time to raid your grandma’s jewelry box — brooches are back.

The erstwhile pin is now a hot-button accessory dominating street style, red carpets and runways.

“We’re definitely seeing more and more people gravitating towards it, especially the younger demographic — it’s changing and they’re becoming more and more interested,” said Noelle Sciacca, The RealReal’s senior head of women’s fashion and partnerships. strategic, for Women’s. Wear it every day.

The second-hand retail site has seen a significant increase in sales of pins for the past two years, she said, noting that users are expanding beyond the traditional holiday accessory to everyday wear, such as “styling a scarf like above and that pin cut in the scarf to close it” or pinning it to a suit jacket.

It’s a stark contrast from recent years of subdued minimalism and “quiet luxury,” an era that data from The RealReal suggests may be coming to an end.

“We had that quiet luxury boom where everything was minimalist, from head to toe, even with jewelry, and our data and our sales demand are showing that there’s a shift from that,” Sciacca noted.

“Or people are taking the pieces that are more minimal and styling and layering the bolder pieces, so pins are the perfect way to do that.â€

On the Fall/Winter 2024 runways, brooches multiplied. Gen Z-beloved brands like Tory Burch, Miu Miu and Schiaparelli affixed glittery pins to sheer jackets, coats and tops.

Meanwhile, creators on TikTok are showing off their favorite brooches and how to style them — mostly as makeshift buttons — in thousands of videos on the platform using the hashtag #brooches.

And, at a variety of 2024 awards shows and red carpet appearances, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Matthew McConaughey, Barry Keoghan and John Krasinski all wore bobby pins, the popularity of which was born from “a the growing desire to personalize and punctuate,” Bertrand Mak, founder of Sauvereign, who designed the brooch worn by Cillian Murphy, told Grazia.

Frank Everett of Sotheby’s, vice president of jewelry in the Americas, told WWD that he “couldn’t have seen more of them during red carpet season,” hoping that this “transition” in men’s fashion could strengthen pins as a permanent fixture in accessories. .

“As a jewelry designer, I think it’s the truest form of their art because it’s a sculpture that you just pin somewhere,” Everett said of the brooches.

“It doesn’t have to fit your finger or hang from your ear. It doesn’t have to be 16 inches to fit around your neck—it’s freeform. They really create something beautiful out of precious material. It’s one of the most attractive for pins.

Michael Saiger, founder and creative director of Miansai, told WWD that he has received an increase in requests for custom pins in the past 12 months.

He believes the needle’s popularity is “driven by this sort of re-imagined vintage fashion,” which has become quite the commodity with Gen Z merchandise and second-hand shoppers gravitating toward pre-favorite designers.

“Hardly anyone makes them anymore,” Everett explained.

“If you’re really into pins and want to collect interesting things, if you go to any of the big houses now and look for a pin with a current assortment, they’re not going to have a lot of options. If you want to get really cool stuff, you should check out the secondary market. You should look at the auctions.â€

According to Everett, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels are among the most coveted at auction, and on The RealReal, Van Cleef & Arpels is a star seller, boasting a significant 223% year-over-year increase in interest on the resale site . .

“It’s the new update of the classic pin,” Saiger said.