FASHION
STYLE NOTE
THE RETURN OF FRINGE
Fringe, tassels and richly decorated little bags are returning for fall, bringing some of the glamour of another era with them.
By Ina Eliska
After seasons of relatively simple leather bags, fashion seems ready for something with more personality. Fringe is getting longer, tassels are appearing on drawstring pouches and bags are being covered in beads, embroidery and metallic details. They move, they catch the light and, importantly, they can change an otherwise very simple outfit.
The timing makes sense. The glamour of the 1920s and Art Deco is finding its way back into fashion for fall, bringing with it a renewed appetite for decoration and evening dressing. Tassels and fringe certainly don’t belong exclusively to that period, but the connection feels natural. The satin, beading, jewel tones and elaborate finishes appearing now have much more in common with an old evening bag than the festival fringe we have seen in past seasons.
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Designers have been building toward it. For Spring 2026, Etro sent out an embroidered shoulder bag finished with long suede fringe, while Valentino showed a small floral-beaded drawstring pouch with black fringe and tasselled cords. By Fall 2026, Stella McCartney had taken the idea in a completely different direction with a vivid red bag covered in long leather strands. Christopher Esber also brought tassels and strips of silk georgette into the collection, including on bags.
And the idea goes beyond the runway. This fall’s accessories include bead-covered velvet at Dries Van Noten, fringed chainmail at Rabanne, crystal-covered evening bags from Erdem and satin drawstring pouches from Sophie Buhai. They are very different bags, but they all point toward the same thing: accessories becoming decorative again.
That is exactly why they work so well with clothes that are not.
A fringed or tasselled bag can give character to jeans and a knit, a long coat or a simple trouser suit without asking much from the rest of the outfit. The movement is part of it. Fringe follows the body when you walk, tassels hang from the wrist and beads pick up the light in a way a plain leather bag simply cannot.
There is also no reason to dress around the historical reference. In fact, these bags are better when you don’t. A beaded pouch with denim feels far more current than recreating a 1920s look from head to toe.
Sometimes, one bag is enough to make the whole outfit feel more alive.
