The winter accessory of 2025 that can cost $30 – or $37,000
When once-daggy ties escaped the fashion mausoleum earlier this year to become style statements around the necks of Nicole Kidman and Rihanna, the door was left ajar for another endangered accessory to escape.
Belts, narrow and wide, slipped through the cracks to be resurrected on the runway, in fashion shoots and across countless winter coats.
Celebrities such as Sirens actor Milly Alcock, actor Jacob Elordi, musician Doechii and supermodel Bella Hadid buckled up following belt-laden collections from Loewe, Miu Miu, Chloe, Zimmermann and Schiaparelli.
“Belts used to be a bit of an afterthought … something you’d grab just to hold your trousers up,” says menswear designer Christian Kimber, who has belts scattered across his latest advertising campaign. “A good belt can really pull everything together. It’s become more of a character in a story than just a background prop.”
After being relegated to fashion purgatory for decades – because magazine and celebrity stylists were fearful of breaking up the line of a silhouette with a horizontal belt – the accessory’s revival can be traced to a perfect storm of events.
The return of high-waisted pants, the popularity of weight loss drugs encouraging shrinking members of the fashion community to extend the lifespan of expensive pants purchased pre-injection, and the cost of living crisis have all driven the belt’s stock higher.
“People are dressing with more intent these days,” Kimber says. “They’re buying less, but buying better. A belt’s one of those things that lasts forever if you get it right, so I think it’s become more of a conscious purchase.”
Buying less doesn’t mean paying less. A fringed leather belt from celebrity favourite label Alaïa, worn by Kendall Jenner and Miley Cyrus, costs $6810. Luxury marketplace 1stDibs currently has three vintage Chanel belts for more than $US24,000 ($37,016).
Searches for belts have increased by 335 per cent at 1stDibs compared to last year, with Ralph Lauren, Hermes and Chanel the most popular brands.
At The Iconic, women’s belt sales increased by 100 per cent, year-on-year, with the $29.95 Kendrick buckle belt from Peta and Jain the most popular.
“I’m noticing an increase in sales,” says Melbourne belt maker Theo Hassett. “I focus on leather goods, but it’s belts that have been in high demand.”
A Hassett belt can cost between $200 for Scandinavian cow hide leather and $1020 for crocodile leather.
“The price of a belt is all in the leather,” Hassett says. “When you get leather from a cow that’s raised for beef instead of its hide, it’s not as good quality. It’s like using pine in woodwork.”
“There’s also a big difference between vegetable tanning and chemical tanning of leather. Most people use chemical tanning, which only works on thin pieces of leather. Some people stitch or glue thinner pieces together, which is usually an inferior quality.”
“Customers are looking for a good quality belt. A simple belt that won’t demand attention or be the centrepiece, even if it is in the centre of things.”
Western motifs are increasingly popular, but celebrity stylist Ken Thomson warns against letting the buckle outshine the belt.
“Logo and rodeo diamante designs are never a style solution,” says Thompson.
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