E-Paper
Sign In
Why the high collar is fashion’s most powerful silhouette right now
From luxury runways to Zara rails, this sculptural silhouette is redefining modern power dressing
- PUBLISHED: Mon 2 Feb 2026, 8:44 PM
- By:
- Louise Nichol
- Share:
For decades, beauty brands have pledged to magic-away wrinkly necks. Promising results that, in reality, only surgery can deliver. Surgery and, it turns out, a micro-trend that all of us, wrinkly-of-neck-or-not, can get behind. A trend that I promise — with more conviction than neck cream claims — will bring instant swagger to your style. The next time you are somewhere fabulous, look around the room. Notice the women who command admiration.
I guarantee it won’t be those who are daringly dressed, or underdressed, as if there were a fabric shortage. One notable exception is Jennifer Lawrence nailing barely-there Givenchy on the Golden Globes red carpet this month for a look that was both naked, and yet not sleazy. Unless you can call upon the couture skills of Givenchy’s Sarah Burton, take a pass on the naked dress.
Recommended For You
Counter-intuitively, an excess of strategically placed fabric makes a stronger statement than stripping it all away. Take the barrel leg jean; that extra C-curve jutting out sideways from each leg looks more modern than an old-school skinny. Thus it is with décolletage. Of late, every time my eye has been drawn to a woman’s ensemble, she has been peering out over a high collar, as if in a John le Carré spy novel. But while your storybook spook is probably costumed in a trench, it’s when the outerwear collar transitions to indoors, via a shirt or blazer, that the magic happens.
I immediately want to know who she is, where she got her outfit, who she’s hiding from, and whether she’ll be my friend. That’s the paradox of the high collar. For the wearer, it provides a cocooning, almost defensive ring of privacy. For those outside the ring, this enigma is magnetic, compelling attention even as it conceals.
Note that I am not talking about your run of the mill turtle- or polo-neck, but a proper 360-degree self-standing collar that covers chin and mouth and requires occasional popping. It’s physiologically impossible to pop your collar and not imbue the gesture with swagger. Said collars need volume, texture and air. They don’t cling to the neck, they stand to attention around it. Stiffer fabrics work best, but generous swathes of satin can command the same effect. If the style is too close to a military uniform for you, it can be softened by opting for a jacket with an attached scarf, for a more fluid, less aggressive buy-in to the look.
The high collar is a cornerstone of Rotate’s pre-spring/summer ’26 collection, a label that’s a bellwether for perfect trend timing: not so early as to be intimidating, not so late as to be passé. It’s an aesthetic that’s a cornerstone of brands such as The Frankie Shop and Bouguessa, and on the catwalk, Bottega Veneta and Jil Sander. For an accessible entry, Zara has a fine check cotton shirt that the industry would call a homage to Bottega, with considerably fewer digits in the price tag.
True, it’s not a trend that has legs beyond Dubai’s surprisingly chilly winter. So make haste and pop your collar while you still can. Take a look at our top picks below.
