In a rotation of the fashion roundabout, we are seeing a recuperation of medievalist and battle-worthy aesthetics, as jewellery becomes weightier and more cumbersome for the 2024 season.

In this year’s SS24 fashion shows, in place of dainty jewels came chainmail, plating and buckling. Reels of pendulum earrings swung, and models marched the runways with iron-clad wrists and ankles. Nestled in between the revamped trend of 1970s power dressing, and a fashion world that is assimilating itself with the digital realms of cosplay and avatar, the armoured trend imbues a certain theatricality.

Against the backdrop of a summer with saw Beyonce wrapped in second-skin jewellery as part of her Renaissance Tour, gladiator sandals returning to our streets, and metallic tones consuming festival aesthetics, the warrior woman image was quickly assembled for September presentations.

Paco Rabanne and Schiaparelli are notorious for their spangly styles, but this season saw a strengthened focus on metalwork, with gauntlet-style accessories becoming bigger, bolder, and more central to total looks.

Less explicit adopters of this trend, but who also hammered exaggerated jewellery into their catwalk, included Prabal Gurung and his singular stoneware earrings, and Vivienne Westwood who incorporated studded chokers and geometric eyewear.

Dion Lee was also a contributor to the huntress aesthetic but worked more with leathers instead of just metals and beading. The monotone collection was layered with body chains and buckling, whilst boots and shirt cuffs were also extended into pockets reminiscent of holsters and gunbelts, offering a more contemporary twist on this combatant imagery.