Julia Roberts walked out in London wearing a black blazer, pleated shorts, and a crystal-embroidered necktie—and suddenly, everyone remembered that ties can, in fact, be fun. The piece came from ZARS LONDON, a British accessories label that’s rewriting the rules of tailoring one bejewelled knot at a time.
Founded in 2020 by Shazana Nawaz, ZARS takes the most corporate of accessories and turns it into wearable art. Each tie is handmade—we’re talking 10 to 14 hours of embroidery, embellishment, and pure patience, with no two ever the same.
It’s not just Julia Roberts dusting off the tie, though. Over the past year, the accessory has been slowly reclaiming space on runways and red carpets, this time with a sense of irony and play. Miu Miu paired it with pleated skirts and cardigans, Saint Laurent made it razor-sharp with silk blouses, and street stylers are wearing theirs loose, hanging off the collar like an afterthought.
The timing makes sense. Fashion’s current mood is nostalgic but controlled—a little nod to the early 2000s, where the tie was once a rebellious gesture, now recast as something more intentional. It’s become a shortcut to looking put-together without feeling corporate, and a clever way to balance masculine structure with feminine ease.
