With Miu Miu's blessing and Hailey Bieber's endorsement, the hair staple Bella Hadid championed years ago is back in rotation.&nbsp;

Few accessories have staged a comeback as improbable as the zig-zag <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/headbands-trend-thick-90s-skincare-headbands-to-wear-now">headband</a>. The toothed band of plastic that's been sold for about $5 at any drugstore and was last seen holding back bangs in a middle-school hallway has spent the past two decades filed away as a relic. But it was only a matter of time before the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/y2k-trend-accessories-sunglasses-von-dutch-true-religion-jeans-flare-low-rise">Y2K revivers</a> came for it. From low-rise <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/hailey-bieber-gap-jeans-collab-denim-shop-now-baggy-where-to-buy-price-pictures">denim</a> to butterfly clips to the big tinted <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/oversized-sunglasses-trend-summer-where-to-shop-how-to-style-runway-celebrity-outfit-inspiration">sunglasses</a>, the comb headband was always going to be next.
Its return has been sealed by two forces at once: a luxury house and an It girl. <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/miu-miu-spring-summer-2026-runway-looks-aprons">Miuccia Prada</a> put the band on the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/miu-miu-fall-winter-2026-collection-runway-photos-see-all-the-looks-vips-celebrities-front-row-models">Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2026</a> runway in Paris, and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/hailey-bieber-skims-campaign-photos-bra-braless-underwear">Hailey Bieber</a> fronted the campaign wearing it—pushed back through undone waves with red-tinted <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/txt-yeonjun-miu-miu-friend-of-house-photos-campaign">Miu Miu</a> sunglasses and a black leather moto jacket, a look that drew the attention of millions. Between the two, a locker-room staple became the most talked-about accessory of the season.

<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">The Runway Coronation</h2>

The Miu Miu show is where the accessory earned its high-fashion credentials. At the Palais d'Iéna, hairstylist Guido Palau placed the serrated band on loose, undone hair across both female and male models. On Gemma Ward it pulled long lengths off the face; on a model with cropped, spiked hair it served as pure ornament, proof the piece had graduated from utility to statement. 
<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/kate-moss-and-chloe-sevigny-saint-laurent-fall-2025-campaign">Chloë Sevigny</a> wore hers with a black leather jacket and minidress. Kristen McMenamy gave it her own imperious spin. <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/gillian-anderson-most-iconic-roles-tv-film-the-crown-margaret-thatcher-dana-scully">Gillian Anderson</a> closed the show in a sequin-embroidered buttercream dress with the band nestled in her blond layers.&nbsp;

Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2026. Getty Images.

The styling was the argument. Paired with leather car coats, shag <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/babydoll-dress-trend-how-to-style-outfit-inspiration-accessories-shoes-runway-photos-olivia-rodrigo">minidresses</a>, and sheer sequined slips, the plastic comb read as deliberate contrast rather than novelty—the kind of high-low tension Miu Miu has built a decade of relevance on. The house also produced a metal version, elevating the drugstore original into a genuine luxury object. 
Then came the detail that turned a styling choice into a trend: nobody took them off. <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/chloe-sevigny-tiger-tights-leggings-outfit-1996">Sevigny</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/gillian-anderson-interview-the-first-lady-eleanor-roosevelt-the-crown-margaret-thatcher">Anderson</a> were seen wearing theirs through their post-show jaunts around Paris, with Anderson keeping hers on for the Miu Miu dinner that evening. Models were photographed leaving the venue in them as well. When a runway prop refuses to be returned to the accessories table, a trend stops being a proposal.

<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Bella Hadid Showed Us the Ropes</h2>

Long before the runway made it official, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/bella-hadid-country-girl-summer-style-inspiration-cowboy-chic-clothes-how-to-wear">Bella Hadid</a> was wearing the zig-zag headband when no one was watching. Throughout 2022, she was photographed in it across New York, threading the plastic comb through slicked-back hair on late nights and lazy afternoons. It was never the point of the outfit, which is exactly why it worked.
Her style remains the blueprint. Hadid's version of the accessory is unfussy—hair worn slicked and wet-looking or pulled loosely off the face, the band functioning as punctuation rather than statement. The lesson is one of restraint. The zig-zag headband is a loud reference on its own, so the surest way to make it look styled rather than costumed is to let it be the only nostalgic note in the room. And years later, Bieber's campaign followsf suit, pairing the band with nothing but sunglasses and a moto jacket.

Bella Hadid on April 23, 2022. Getty Images.

From there, the accessory slowly crept its way back to the catwalk. By 2024, the headband had become a runway fixture in every form:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/helmut-lang-career-defining-moments-90s-fashion-designer-mens">Helmut Lang</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/molly-goddard-spring-2020">Molly Goddard</a> both used it for <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/spring-summer-2024-fashion-color-patterns">Spring/Summer 2024</a>. Two years after Hadid's sidewalk sightings, the piece had been absorbed into high fashion's vocabulary—and Miu Miu's Fall/Winter 2026 endorsement was the coronation waiting to happen. The It girl wears it first, the runway makes it official, and the rest of us catch up.

Helmut Lang Spring/Summer 2024. Getty Images.

Plastic or metal, slicked back or slipped through undone waves, a $5 comb or a Miu Miu one. The reach that a single plastic comb has found over the years is surely something to honor—and a reminder that the Y2K revival still has plenty left in the drawer. Butterfly clips, claw clips, and beaded chokers are all waiting their turn.
Only one question remains: which staple from your teenage bedroom will fashion come for next?

Inside the Zig-Zag Headband Comeback, From NYC Streets to the Miu Miu Runway

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