‘It’ girls Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Alexa Chung are embracing the sweater trend – preppy ‘old money’ styling is getting a boost from designers at Loewe, Fendi and Thom Browne

Jan 9 , 2024

At the Hermès show at Paris Fashion Week, influencer Nicole Warne embraced the sweater trend – as seen at Loewe, Fendi and Thom Browne. ‘It’ girls Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Lila Moss and Alexa Chung are also fans of the look. Photo: Getty Images

Blame the TikTok “old money aesthetic” trend, this year’s recent makeover of the classic L.L. BeanBoat and Tote, the way some of the coolest brands right now such as Bode and Thom Browne subvert preppy mainstays like rugby stripes, not to mention J.Crew’s big return – but have you ever wanted to knot a sweater around your shoulders more?

The ultimate preppy styling move, the sweater (preferably cable-knit but not compulsory) has made a triumphant return.

British TV presenter and model Alexa Chung wears Ralph Lauren to the Wimbledon Championships, July 2023. Photo: WireImage

Take Alexa Chung and Lila Moss at Wimbledon earlier this year. Chung, who remains an ultimate style icon while also proving that your style can evolve, wore a Ralph Lauren utility shirt, skinny-ish jeans (are they also back?) and a lavender cable-knit sweater knotted around her shoulders. Moss meanwhile paired a cornflower-blue slip dress with a matching sweater tied just so.

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The looks had the effect of being both practical (being prepared for a surprise bout of chilliness is always to be commended) and looking effortless.

Model Lila Moss also wears Ralph Lauren to Wimbledon, while showing that the sweater trend can even be applied to dresses. Photo: WireImage

They also fit with the “something happening with sweaters” moment we’re currently in. For one, Chung and Moss are not the only It girls suddenly knotting sweaters around their necks in the manner of country club mums. The likes of Gigi Hadid, Tracee Ellis Ross and Kendall Jenner are also fans.

Meanwhile, a new fashion-person thing is to wear a sweater over a blazer as a sort of pointless-but-beguiling styling trick. Moda Operandi co-founder Lauren Santo Domingo has done this, and so too Alexa Chung (so yeah, it’s really a thing). At Paris Fashion Week, influencer Nicole Warne tied a brown sweater over her shoulders at the Hermès show.

Fendi puts its own spin on the preppy sweater style with its spring/summer 2024 collection. Photo: Handout

Meanwhile, reinterpretations of the sweater were a key trend this season. And by reinterpretations, specifically this means sweaters with many sleeves.

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At the likes of Proenza Schouler and Commission in New York and Fendi in Milan – not to mention recent seasons by Jonathan Anderson at Loewe and JW Anderson – were sweaters with an extra set of sleeves that could be tied around the shoulder or used to cinch in your waist (or really, do whatever you want with).

As seen in its spring/summer 2024 collection, Commission is among the brands making sweaters with an extra set of sleeves. Photo: Handout

The kooky yet luxurious look isn’t a new silhouette: Phoebe Philo did it at Celine (and don’t forget, Philo made her much-anticipated return to fashion in October this year).

But it is a reminder that there’s more than one way to wear a sweater and also, probably, four arms are better than two.

Fashion

The ultimate preppy styling move, the sweater made a triumphant return at the recent Fashion Weeks in Paris, Milan and New York, as seen at Loewe, Fendi, Thom Browne and J.Crew, among others
Celebrities from Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Lila Moss to Alexa Chung and Tracee Ellis Ross are embracing the trend, which has expanded to include sweaters with an extra set of sleeves