How to Style Double Belts for Spring

Reported by Harper's Bazaar.

Accessories have always been the cheat code for a wardrobe that feels intentional rather than assembled — and right now, the move everyone in fashion is making is deceptively simple: stacking belts. According to Harper's Bazaar, the double-belt trend gained serious runway momentum last fall, when houses like Celine and Etro sent out looks built around layered cinches. At Celine, Michael Rider stacked medallion belts to create a new focal point within the house's polished bourgeois-chic aesthetic. At Etro, slender braided leather and brass styles wound around bohemian dresses and utility jackets, simultaneously adding dimension and defining the waist. The result wasn't maximalist chaos — it was considered, even architectural.

The deeper history here matters. Karl Lagerfeld was doing this at Chanel for decades — piling belts woven with leather, pearls, and logo hardware over tweed suits, denim, and swimwear, deliberately mirroring the layered necklaces Gabrielle Chanel made iconic. Matthieu Blazy continued that lineage in his Métiers d'Art 2026 collection, layering a croc belt over a beaded red-and-black style on a plaid skirt, the red cabochons quietly nodding to New York City's visual language. Meanwhile, Gianni Versace pushed the concept toward full opulence — thick belts with Medusa hardware and heavy gold chains worn over skin-tight silhouettes. And Ralph Lauren went the opposite direction entirely: cognac leather and braided belts layered over embellished balloon pants, a Western-inflected Americana that still reads as completely relevant today.

How to Actually Wear It

The editors at Harper's Bazaar have been testing this IRL, and their approaches span the full style spectrum. Senior fashion accessories editor Jaclyn Alexandra Cohen threads two Déhanche belts through wide-leg white trousers for a minimal-but-considered statement. Fashion news director Brooke Bobb — a self-proclaimed belt skeptic — is layering a chain over a sequined cummerbund, with a vintage crystal-studded Versace style on her wish list. Assistant accessories editor Jennifer Jenkins borrowed from Chanel's playbook, pairing a cabochon crystal chain belt by Goossens under a tan leather belt to ground a floral jacket. And fashion assistant Alice Almeida has turned the trend into a kind of personal archive, collecting belts while traveling and pairing them with vintage Ralph Lauren denim for a look that accumulates meaning with every wear.

The brands worth knowing: Artemas Quibble is producing antique-inspired statement buckles with a slightly artifact-found-on-a-dig energy, while Déhanche is reworking the category entirely with dual-tone and mixed-metal hardware that functions less like a wardrobe staple and more like jewelry. These aren't novelty pieces — they're the kind of investment that shifts how you think about getting dressed.

A belt stack won't fix a bad outfit, but it will make a good one feel like a decision — and that distinction is exactly what separates personal style from just wearing clothes.

Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.