Will pearls really make a big comeback? A jewel of the past that says something about the present

The Valentino Resort 2025 lookbook, which Alessandro Michele presented yesterday as a surprise, sparking anticipated conversations on the web, provided much food for thought for fashion enthusiasts. From those who searched for the original references among Valentino's archive photos, to those who delved into discussions about post-truth in today's fashion debate, and those who saw the decision to publish the lookbook as an attempt to create a beef between Kering's designers, the 170-plus looks of the collection set the mental gears of practically everyone in motion. And if the lookbook exemplifies in a very Michele-esque way the current trend towards vintage silhouettes, it is possible to find traces of different microtrends within it that, thanks to Michele, could explode again. Among these are pearls. And we are not talking, in the case of Valentino, about the modest petit-bourgeois strand of pearls – but rather the aristocratic pearls of grand dames, in double or triple strands, applied to bags and straps, pinned on brooches, set in earrings but above all displayed and flaunted with the pride of a pharaoh. More modestly, pearls have returned to the recent Haute Couture shows of Chanel, Schiaparelli and Dior, in the form of buttons and earrings in the case of the two latter brands. And at a time when, amid mounting economic uncertainties, brands are trying to focus on reaffirming the intrinsic value of their creations – this overabundance of pearls suggests that (real or fake) we will end up seeing more of them next season. But where have we seen them before?

More interesting is the context in which they have returned in womenswear. Given that as an accessory, the pearl is so widespread as to not easily be grouped into a trend, the perception of it now, as a type of antiquated jewelry, has been used in collections in recent months to "spice up" various retro-inspired dresses and looks with aristocratic tones. We tend to forget, but this winter people collectively started thinking again about the socialites of the '60s, legendary Haute Couture clients like the various Babe Paley, Lee Radziwill, and Slim Keith, with their furs and pearls, those old and stately status symbols probably emerging as a reaction to the widespread adoption of the anarchic, rebellious but unfortunately somewhat shabby uniform of that underground aesthetic mixing rave fashion, Indie Sleaze, and rock mood that dominates the streets today. Against the ripped jeans, low-cut and ragged t-shirts, bleached fabrics, and certain very provocative cuts, the light of mother-of-pearl, the rigor of tweed, and the opulence of fur have been opposed. Perhaps then, this presence of pearls that is starting to be felt in the collections of key brands signals the collective attempt of the culture to mediate between one extreme and the other – even if the return of these pearls does not come in a new guise but rather with their old aristocratic symbolism.