Don't Let The Necktie Tie You Down

There’s a good chance your earliest tie-related memories involve some unfortunate school ceremony where you were forced into a starched shirt, a borrowed belt, and a tie so uncomfortable it could’ve doubled as construction material. Bonus points if the adults around you weren’t exactly tie whisperers themselves; nothing like watching your parents panic-Google “how to tie a Windsor knot” five minutes before the bus arrived to build character.

If this was you, the rejoice, because here's the twist: In 2025, the tie didn’t stay trapped in that world of punishment formalwear. It grew up, got therapy, discovered personality, and re-emerged on runways as the most unexpectedly subversive accessory of the year.

How does it all tie up?

Turns out, ties can be a cool thing. And not in the suffocating uniform in boardroom meetings kind of way, but more like the I’m too cool to care for your formality kind of way.

Fashion designers had been poking at the idea last winter. Alessandro Michele literally replaced the tie with a scarf for his first collection at Valentino, but much of the credit towards bringing ties to the forefront as a fashion accessory goes to viral South Korean-Canadian designer Hyungwoo Jung and his necktie cutout jacket. There's no tie here, yes, but the front is cut out such that it gives the illusion of one when you button up the jacket and layer it on something.

Then came the moment actual ties reclaimed the spotlight. Jonathan Anderson featured them prominently in his first collection for Dior this October. He even teased a mood board built around a photo of Jean-Michel Basquiat shot by Andy Warhol, with the key detail being the tie jutting out of the left collar like it had better places to be.

Basquiat photographed by Andy Warhol, 1982Dior

Naturally, that image went feral on the internet.

Meanwhile, Anthony Vaccarello tucked his colour-coordinated ties behind the second button for an “I had to wear this but I didn’t want to” effect. Tom Ford sent their models down the runway in the loose tie, undone shirt combo, while Boss basically asked humanity why we bother tying them at all.

Boss undone tie, Valentino scarf tie and YSL Hidden tieInstagram

Soon enough, designers everywhere began treating the tie not as a rulebook but as raw material. Michael Rider at Céline snipped the ends for a square silhouette. Ferragamo hid theirs in shirt pockets, championing peak low-effort chic.

You get the idea. Ties are no longer a symbol of your 9-to-5; they're a playground for you to show the finger to the establishment without trying too much.

A little rebellion is fun sometimes

And before you dismiss all of this as runway fantasy, here’s your civilian reality check: James Bond actor Daniel Craig, of all people showed up wearing his tie twisted to the left, exactly like a Dior model.

Dior

So if the epitome of British proper can get away with flouting tie-wearing conventions, what’s stopping you from experimenting?

The message is simple: the tie is back, but it’s not here to be the goodie-two-shoes. It’s here to misbehave, and your wardrobe could use a little of that.