Back jewellery isn’t going anywhere—it’s just getting a couture upgrade

Consider this your sign to turn around. Fashion officially has. While back jewellery has flirted with fashion for nearly a century, its latest iteration is anything but shy. What was once a clever styling detail has become one of the red carpet’s favourite ways to make an entrance—ironically, from behind. Pearls trail down spines, diamonds trace bare skin, chains follow the curve of a silhouette, and blouses save their most spectacular details for the moment their wearer turns around. But fashion has never been particularly good at leaving a good thing alone. What started as an unexpected way to wear a necklace has grown bigger, bolder, and far more elaborate—and now it has made its way into couture. But this isn't exactly the first time fashion has decided that the back deserves a little extra attention.

The roots of the look stretch back to the 1920s and ’30s, when Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel made long, swinging sautoirs a signature. Her strands of pearls and chains were designed to move with the body, often slipping over the shoulder and down the back rather than sitting conventionally at the neckline. Decades later, Hollywood understood exactly how much drama it could pack into a rear view. Shirley MacLaine wore pearls cascading down her spine with a plunging-back dress in What a Way to Go! in 1964, while Princess Diana gave the look a regal spin in an open-back Catherine Walker gown in the 1980s.

So, no, decorating the back is hardly a new fashion discovery. And over the past few seasons, celebrities have been making the most of it. Red Carpets, in particular, have become something of a playground for the trend. At Cannes 2025, Janhvi Kapoor paired a custom Anamika Khanna gown with a multicoloured back chain by Aurus Jewels. The gown already had plenty going on—a fluid mint-green train and an ornate gold-embroidered bodice—but the open back gave the jewellery room to follow the line of the body, adding another layer to the look.

Then it happened again. For her 2026 Cannes Film Festival debut, Kalyani Priyadarshan wore a Kalyan Jewellers creation that took the familiar back necklace into much more sculptural territory. Crafted in 14K white gold, the piece centred a 52-carat pear-shaped blue sapphire and featured 945 natural diamonds, alongside two 15-carat pink morganites. The classic lariat was reworked to travel down the back, turning the jewellery into an extension of the silhouette itself.

At this point, the back had clearly developed an appetite for drama. And the Met Gala was hardly going to miss out. Ananya Birla brought jewellery back to one of fashion's biggest stages, pairing her Robert Wun couture look with a diamond necklace from her personal collection.

And then there was Zendaya, who gave the whole idea a very literal plot twist. For the London leg of the Spider-Man: Brand New Day press tour, she wore an archival John Galliano gown from 1997, with the back transformed into a delicate silver spiderweb made from chains and charms. It was exactly the kind of fashion-meets-method-dressing moment Zendaya and Law Roach have become so good at: using the back jewellery to help tell the story.

Recently, this styling trick of turning necklaces around and decorating the open back has evolved into something more ambitious. Call it a backlace, a spine necklace or simply a very clever way to accessorise from behind—the name may change, but fashion's fascination with the back isn't going anywhere. Designers are treating the back as its own canvas, culminating in couture looks where the line between embellishment, jewellery, and garment is almost disappearing.

At India Couture Week 2026, Gaurav Gupta took the idea far beyond the traditional back necklace. For his Light Song collection, the designer sent out sculpted silhouettes and heavily embellished surfaces, with Ananya Panday closing the show in an ivory bridal look whose sculptural blouse was finished with thousands of pearls. The embellishment travelled over the shoulder and down the back, creating the illusion of a pearl-encrusted drape suspended behind her. With nearly 12,000 pearls and around 1,500 hours of craftsmanship, the ensemble let the couture itself speak the language of jewellery.

And Gupta isn’t the only one giving the back the couture treatment. Mrs Universe Sherriy Sikandar Singh brought another version of the look to the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival this year in a Rimple & Harpreet couture ensemble, styled with Golecha Jewellers’ Octagon Emerald Satlada. The classic jewel, set with polkis and emeralds, was attached to her blouse and worn down her bare back in cascading layers, turning the traditional seven-strand necklace into an unexpected rear-view statement.

Moreover, the trend was once again embraced at this year’s Met Gala. Jewellery Designer Kavya Potluri created a custom back-jewellery piece for Sudha Reddy, designed to complement her custom Manish Malhotra gown. The substantial black jewel was built specifically for the look, extending over the back in a dramatic, sculptural sweep. Drawing on the surya and chandra—the sun and moon—the piece brought symbolism and serious craftsmanship to what would traditionally be an outfit afterthought.

Outhouse Jewellery, meanwhile, took the idea of back jewellery-as-couture quite literally for Rhea Kapoor’s Marrakech wedding celebrations. Created to complement her custom Gaurav Gupta gown, the bespoke piece was an elaborate, full-scale jewel that travelled across the front of the body before making its way around to the back. As Kapoor tells us, “Through my conversations with Outhouse, we explored moving beyond conventional placements and allowing the jewellery to travel around the body, with the layering extending across the back.”

And that’s where back jewellery gets even interesting. It’s no longer simply about fastening a necklace backwards and letting it trail down an open back. Designers play with pearls, stones, chains, and embellishments directly on the garment, while jewellery designers create custom pieces designed to work with the silhouette from every angle. And judging by the amount of couture now being spent on it, the rear view, it seems, has finally earned top billing.

Lead image: Getty Images

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