Have We Reached Peak Belt?

There’s always something in the air at Coachella — no, not the dust, but rather the not-so-subtle arrival of spring and festival fashion, both on the stage and at the million or so brand activations across the valley. On any given year in the desert, a hero accessory emerges, whether that be cowboy hats or circle sunglasses. 2025’s runaway trend was belts. They were everywhere, seen on everyone from Jennie to Alix Earle in as many mutations as stylistically possible: stacked atop one another, worn as jewelry, and worn as skirts, all slung as low as they can go. Where did all these belts come from — and have stars pushed them to their limit?

The belt genesis started in the early aughts (because Y2Chaos), with brands showing skimpy dresses grounded with thick, metal-heavy belts slung across the hips. The recent iterations on this trend rely on similar tricks — and even pull from the era, with both Charli XCX and Tyla wearing archival belts across their lower tummies for their sets. Lisa embodied the Warped Tour, Avril Lavigne-indebted studded belt style with help from Zana Bayne, who designed her red hot shorts and also just released a line of mesh tops printed all over with — you guessed it — belts.

My hunch about the revival comes from the Spring/Summer 2025 runways, and specifically from the two most influential shows of the season: Prada and Miu Miu. The prim-yet-perverse older sibling (Prada) and her quirky younger sister (Miu Miu) always set the tone for the season to come, and whether stylists and street-style stars know it or not, the season’s vibe stems from these two shows. The stylists behind the two shows (Olivier Rizzo at Prada and Lotta Volkova at Miu Miu) shift the tides of dressing more than any other brand right now, and the best part of it all is that you don’t have to cop the real thing to emulate it: It’s all about a feeling.

See: Miu Miu’s double and triple metal belts in the way Jennie and Troye Sivan both wore silver around their hips, and even how Alix Earle made it her own via Mad Max: Fury Road. Prada’s clunky belt attached to an even more cumbersome skirt inspires the clunkiness of Charli’s silver belt, and the brand’s trompe l’œil printed belt-on-pant predate beabadoobee’s double belt wore atop houndstooth shorts. Moreover, Hodakova’s belt dress signals the way Tyla and Alix Earle made belts their bottoms over the weekend, showing how an otherwise utilitarian accessory is now a clothing item in its own right.

Whether or not this will transcend to us regular folk is yet to be determined — although, the proof is in the Instagram-able pudding, as my friend just wore a pair of white leather shorts with a huge belt front from Lado Bokuchava. The trickle down to high-street fashion is near, so we advise you get on it before all the clasping and cinching is out of style.