winning Trends  

Featured image: image courtesy of Millie Noble

Once awarded for success, the rosette is now a prized fashion statement

Brooched is now one of the year’s defining fashion directions, according to Pinterest Predicts 2026. But when used in conversation with the continuing grip of last year’s bow trend, a much narrower, more circular form begins to take shape with the prize ribbon. The bow, which ruled 2025 with a coquettish look, was never just decorative. It was a symbol of softness and the resurgence of an ornamental femininity. 

At Simon Rocha’s spring/summer 2026 collection, the coquette mood didn’t seem to quit, but the ribbons and the dreamiest details have remained long into 2026. What shifts now is the form. The elongated bow becomes something rounder, more creative. The lengthy ribbon and medal, originally worn as a celebratory trophy at contests, has been repurposed as a decorative fashion accessory, frequently fastened onto garments. 

The trend has been spotted among the Gen Z celebrity set. Clairo wore it on her Charm tour, and Emma Chamberlain was styled in a prize ribbon bedecked gown on Byrdie’s cover. Its structure of a long ribbon draped beneath the flower or round badge allows it to blend seamlessly with a broad spectrum of styles, from Y2K to coquette. Maybe that’s why you can find it across any area of fashion, from high-end runways to the stage styling of hottest K-pop stars including Jennie.

Swapping out the flower for unique pictures or phrases by Gen Z, the prize ribbon becomes less about competition and more about personalised identity. What we get here is not first or second place. It’s more that the beauty of the prize ribbon itself can give an individual an aesthetic moment as a silent performance of personal identity. Putting on even a single brooch can make a bold impact and elevate your style game in an instant. It’s accessible to anyone yet highly effective when worn on your minimal look to spice it up in perfect balance. 

Beyond the brand runways, the prize ribbon trend has generated buzz around a DIY wave in London. Unlike many trendy accessories tied to a high price, these brooches can easily be made at home with any fabric scraps or recycled textiles. Fuelled by endless DIY clips from fashion TikTokers like Elena Tea and Martina Calvi, prize ribbon making is fast becoming a favourite among a crafty young generation.

Izzy Woods, 30, a fashion content creator in London, has helped popularise this approach by sharing simple how-to tutorials that show how to customise prize ribbons. “There is no wrong way to make a ribbon brooch. I just wanted to show that anyone can take a simple ribbon and glue and create something that really shows off their style,” Izzy says. Depending on each person’s approach, the brooches can be polished or intentionally imperfect. In that sense, it feels more like an emotional gesture that values creativity over perfection, depending on the material and colour chosen to create a girlish or vintage mood.

This DIY culture has also extended to bigger in-person events. What makes this brooch especially relevant to Schíma is its form and ethos. Typically circular, it further opens up the meaning of making connections and working together as a community. Across London and other parts of the UK, rosette workshops have begun to appear in community spaces and independent craft venues. Millie Noble, 26, is passionate about bringing art to the community. She runs a ribbon rosette workshop as part of a local craft club in Brighton. Most attendees are in their twenties, drawn by a desire to keep craft alive and to decenter from consumerism and technology. “I always enjoy seeing everyone’s creations at the end of the session and feeling inspired by them! The craft club is not just for craft, it’s also a community of like-minded people,” Millie says. Beyond the craft itself, these workshops foster a sense of collectivity, allowing participants to build fresh connections and share their own creative styles with others. 

Millie also believes we are seeing a resurgence of slow living and handmade culture, which crafts like prize ribbons can fit right into. These gatherings turn the trend into something collective rather than consumptive. Making prize ribbons becomes a circular act of sharing materials and spending time together.

Circular in both form and spirit, the prize ribbon brings fashion back to something simple – connection. Style doesn’t just move forward, it comes back full circle.