Where Have You Seen Miu Miu’s 90s Zig-Zag Headband Before?

Fashion takes the Portuguese saying “recordar é viver” rather literally: to remember is to live again. Some call it a tribute, others an archive reference. But let’s be honest, quite a few of fashion’s best ideas lately have already had a very good life in the 1990s. And Miu Miu behaves as though it has the keys to the decade. Pencil skirts, bubble shoes and nylon fabrics should give you some idea.

This season, the rummage through the past has reached the bathroom drawer. The zig-zag headband appeared on Miu Miu’s autumn/winter 2026 runway, bringing back that familiar row of little teeth. If you recognise it, you may remember buying yours alongside shampoo. Very different surroundings from a Paris fashion show.

The Zig-Zag Headband Returns at Miu Miu AW26

At the Palais d’Iéna on 10 March, Guido Palau worked the comb headbands into the hair of both male and female models. Long hair was pushed away from the face and left loose; on a short, spiky cut, the band had very little work to do. It was there for the look.

What made us pay attention, though, was who wore it. There were Gemma Ward, Kristen McMenamy and Chloë Sevigny, while Gillian Anderson closed the show in a sheer dress sparkling with embellishment. The headband looked perfectly at home among them.

There is something pleasing about seeing a familiar accessory on women who were already adults during its first fashionable outing. We are so often invited to revisit our youth through a campaign starring someone who wasn’t born at the time. Here, at least, some of the original audience had been invited back.

Anderson and Sevigny were photographed wearing their bands afterwards in Paris, and Anderson still had hers on at the Miu Miu dinner that evening. Perhaps they liked the effect. Perhaps, once your hair is pushed neatly out of your face, you become reluctant to disturb the arrangement. Either way, it was a more convincing styling suggestion than another backstage tutorial.

From Clueless to the Early 2000s

Before it acquired runway credentials, the black plastic zig-zag headband was an ordinary, inexpensive accessory. Its teeth combed the hair into those distinctive little channels, doing the work of a comb and a band in one slightly unforgiving object.

You might remember it on Cher in Clueless or Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. David Beckham also wore one to keep his hair out of his face. Then came the early-2000s chapter: Lizzie McGuire, Keira Knightley in Bend It Like Beckham, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. This particular memory stretches beyond the 90s, even if we tend to file the whole lot in the same drawer.

Nor has it spent the intervening years in complete retirement. Amy Adams wore one to an American Hustle premiere in 2013, and the Helmut Lang autumn/winter 2014 show gave it another runway appearance. More recently, Bella Hadid and Alexa Demie in Euphoria have helped keep the acquaintance alive. Miu Miu has picked up a conversation that never entirely stopped.

How to Wear It Without Recreating Your School Photograph

We would take the simplest lesson from the Miu Miu show: push the hair back and let the rest fall as it likes. There is no obligation to assemble an entire period costume around one small accessory.

Try it with a fine jumper and trousers, or let it interrupt the seriousness of a jacket. Anderson’s evening appearance makes a good case for wearing it with something dressier, too. A little everyday practicality can be rather attractive next to sequins.

And before buying one, have a look through your drawers. Somewhere between a missing earring and a hair clip you thought you had lost, you may discover that you were ready for autumn/winter 2026 all along.

Images courtesy of ©MiuMiu