There’s something about a long, luxuriant pendant at fashion week this season. After the shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris, a bit of a jewellery trend has emerged. Pendants, that classic accessory, are having a bit of a moment now as statement pieces in and of themselves.
Part of the pendant’s present appeal can perhaps be attributed to a mood of unrest and instability. Fashion designers respond to the zeitgeist in several ways: tougher clothes to offer proverbial armour, or fantasy as escapism. But a pendant, in its own way, is a piece of jewellery that’s worn much closer to the chest. Because it sits right on our necks and chests (vulnerable spots on the body!) it has an innate, sensual intimacy. Pendants are often sentimental, after all—pieces acquired and worn with significant meanings and memories behind them.
A host of designers leaned into the totemic strength of a pendant this spring/summer 2026 season. Some of the loveliest and most potent lean into an artsy, mystical look. Christopher John Rogers showed a brilliant touch of seductive styling by accenting the cut-out back on one of his dresses with a pendant worn backwards. Tory Burch paired a collection of vintage-inflected New York sportswear with polished shell jewels, crafted with natural baroque pearls, glass flowers, and beads. It had the effect of adding worldly mystique to the outfits, like magical trinkets for city life.
A counterpoint to complex totems is the simple power of a sculptural shape. Many of the pendants on the runway this season—worn on cords or chains—had the feel of Elsa Peretti’s biomorphic Bean designs. At Michael Kors, hefty pebble shapes in golden metal sheathed in leather. Ralph Lauren, meanwhile, offered up polished silver faceted geometric sculptures and conch shells. Dries Van Noten, now under the creative direction of Julian Klausner, coincidentally showed a conch pendant—a suggestion maybe that, in addition to pendants, the nautical jewel trend is still going strong?
Either way, a bold statement pendant is shaping up to be one of the coming spring/summer 2026 season’s leading trends. Something to accessorise with for a bold new world next year, when fashion turns a page and the collections of all the newly debuted designers hit the stores.
1 / 10
Michael Kors Collection
2 / 10
Hermès
3 / 10
Versace
4 / 10
Carven
5 / 10
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Christopher John Rogers
7 / 10
Sandy Liang
8 / 10
Lacoste
9 / 10
Ralph Lauren
10 / 10
