Strap In—The Harness is Officially Happening This Fall

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since Timotheé Chalamet broke the internet with his jeweled harness. The look has remained so influential, and is still talked about so frequently, that you’d almost swear he wore it to this year’s Golden Globes, not 2019’s. It’s become the ne plus ultra of modern men’s style, and an early indicator of (hopefully) more exciting, gender-bending red carpets to come.

We may not be there just yet—this awards season was pretty dull—but thanks to Chalamet, the harness has lingered as the requisite “cool” accessory for guys. Not long after the Golden Globes, Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman wore harnesses, too (also by Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton, who made Chalamet’s), and more recently, Lil Nas X wore a neon pink Versace harness to the Grammys. None of those looks reached the viral status of Chalamet’s sparkly accessory, but they still caused a stir.

It isn’t that harnesses are exactly a new concept; Michael Jackson famously wore them, and Helmut Lang, Vivienne Westwood, and Rick Owens have all designed their own versions. In Chalamet’s case, it was the “feminine” embellishments, the touch of kink, and his status as Hollywood’s next-gen golden boy. I’d argue it was also because he didn’t look like a fashion victim; his look pushed the envelope, but it was still kind of relatable. Under his harness, he wore a black shirt and trousers, two items you’ll find in every guy’s closet. Similarly, Jordan and Boseman wore their harnesses over classic, monochromatic suits. In every case, the addition of a harness didn’t completely throw you off or require a jarring shift in perspective; it was simply a tweak to an existing formula.

That might help explain why the accessory has trickled up to the most influential women’s runways of fall 2020. At Gucci, Alessandro Michele buckled leather harnesses over his ruffled ball gowns; Christopher Kane’s harnesses came in jelly plastic with giant rhinestones; Richard Malone’s cotton straps dangled over dresses; Michael Kors wrapped narrow leather straps around a plaid prairie dress; and Vera Wang toughened up her floral gowns with fringed and grommeted harnesses. These were capital-F fashion takes on the trend, but there was still the element of modularity: Wear the full look, or don’t; layer the harness over a T-shirt, or don’t; swap the harness for a blazer over the dress, if the mood strikes. It’s less prescriptive than what we’re used to seeing on meticulously-styled, themed runways.

In that regard, you might consider the harness a distant cousin of the removable collar, and maybe the dickey, too: These are detachable, endlessly mix-and-match-able styling pieces that can spice up a brand-new dress or the oldest sweater in your closet. In lieu of adopting an entirely new “look,” a harness or collar requires you to wear it your way; it’s an item to enhance your style, not rewrite it. We’d venture to guess there will be more harnesses in our future as the shows ramp up in Milan and Paris (and probably more collars, dickeys, belts, and other add-ons, too). A Timotheé Chalamet sighting is less likely, but a girl can dream.