Why Are Big Bows Suddenly Everywhere?

By Sydney Gore

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While it's hard to anticipate what trend predictions will actually come true, designers have made one thing clear for 2023: big bows. Between Simone Rocha and Sandy Liang, the runway was dominated by Big Bow Energy this season. Unsurprisingly, the beauty scene has flocked to the bow trend as well, but I’ve spotted even more ribbons in the background of interior spaces. This all seamlessly ties together with the "dressed up decor" concept that I proposed at the end of the year, a product of the balletcore and coquette aesthetics that infiltrated our feeds in 2022. (Or, as we prefer to call it, Little Bo Peepcore.) KkCo's new ETHER ON EARTH collection, an "exploration of delicacy and fragility but with the contradiction of being rigid and grounded," is a prime example of these colliding worlds.

Last October I couldn't take my eyes off Maria Pergay's Ribbon Pouf when I saw the stainless-steel stool on display at Demisch Danant for Laila Gohar's Romance in the Butcher Shop installation. Hailed as "modernity's matriarch," the innovative designer has been confronting the rigidness of furniture with delicate pieces of desire for the past six decades. (In recent years, Ribbon Pouf has sold at auctions for $22,500.) Then in January I became enamored with a vintage copper bow by Michael Bonne at Portmanteau. The sculpture was made in the 1980s and is a rare piece that is hard to come by, so whoever scooped it should be counting their blessings. Big bows have continued to follow me from a close but respectful distance ever since.

When I stepped inside Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery a few months ago, the first thing that I noticed in the space was the row of big bows dangling from the ceiling on top of the drapes—they were once made of red ribbon but have since been swapped for thick steel wool. The latest exhibition on view, "If I did, I did, I die," features lead bows of all sizes in bags and boxes, nailed into sheets of latex, and sculpted on ceramics.

Maria Pergay's Ribbon Pouf on display in the front window at Demisch Danant in New York City.

After Sandy Liang reached out to Anamaria Morris about collaborating on a collection of candleholders in 2021, the drop that followed was a series of big bows. Anamaria's personal interest in bows was conceived during the bleak holiday season of 2020. "The big bow is my way to bring an element of festivity to the table," she says. "Even though it wasn't the usual way to celebrate, I felt like plopping a huge saturated bow in the middle of this somewhat bare table brings the mood up immediately, adds some cheer, and makes things feel celebratory."

For Anamaria, the bow is a perfect cross section of all her influences—hyper femininity, paintings from the 1700s, and even Japanese anime. The All Kinds founder points out how there are so many entry points that allow for people with different tastes to be interested in bows with such a wide range of shapes, colors, and applications. Anamaria treats her handmade creations as characters with their own distinct personalities. "The bow is so versatile and has gone through so many different evolutions," she explains. "For so long, it was associated with a more preppy aesthetic and then it was Saccharin girly or Bo Peep. I feel like now there's the opportunity for a bit more of an edge, maybe that is that sort of medieval, darker aesthetic creeping in."

Anamaria Morris with shelves of her big bows at the Sandy Liang store in downtown Manhattan.

Lera and Viktor Komskii, the creative duo behind CENTÁ, have been incorporating big bows into their striking tablescapes, floral arrangements, and set designs since originally launching as a flower shop and bar in 2021. (Lera has a background in floristry and noticed a gap in Portugal's industry.) Given the cyclical nature of trends, Lera and Viktor have found that bows add a layer of diversity to their projects—which includes collaborations with Loewe and Zara Kids—with the variety of shapes, colors, and materials to choose from. As they explain in an email, bows "bring something new to the ordinary and at the same time create a special charm."

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The whimsical bows that appear on bouquets and other compositions all originated from Lera's childhood memories of going to the market for flowers with her mother, and the ruffled bows are inspired by French bouquets in the style of jabot. "The woman, unaware of the florist profession, wrapped the bouquets with plastic ribbons, which she tied around the bouquet and twisted with scissors—the ribbons were mostly red, yellow, and, for special occasions, gold," she recalls. "These same ribbons became tools in our work, and thanks to a collaboration between those memories and my current style, these are the bows you see now."

This is similar for Sandy, who credits the bow as one of the many symbols of childhood that everyone draws subconsciously. (Other motifs from her memories include stars, hearts, moons, and flowers.) Although bows are in fact trending, the fashion designer argues that this isn't necessarily a trend. She sees the bow as "something out of nothing," musing that "it's so sweet and classic. It's akin to the rosette you had on your little floral tank growing up. It's a small detail that brings me back to childhood. Everything I do and create is an effort to get me back to my childhood brain."

A beautiful bouquet of pink bows.

Lace bows tied on a bundle of red grapes.

The romance of ribbons in particular is a quiet but commanding force that dates back to the Middle Ages, so it's fitting that bolder bows would surface now, as medieval aesthetics are mainstream once more. Leo Costelloe, an Australian artist and accessories designer, is at the forefront of the big-bow boom with his assortment of jewelry, decor, and sculptures that are made out of glass, metal, and other materials. "A huge part of my work aims to investigate the way in which feminine aesthetics exist in and subvert patriarchal landscapes, and seeing the bow appropriated so widely is exciting," he explains in an email. "I think it's indicative of a wider conversation going on about where we allow for decoration in our lives and encourages people to take a more considered and serious approach to femininity and decoration."

Leo is drawn in by the bow's practicality and how "historically they were born out of necessity." He adds, "They’re an innovative fastening which just so happens to be extremely beautiful. They’re versatile, universal, and they hold things together, but they also have an innate romance to them, and I think that romance is really what draws me to them. They feel tentative and almost liminal in their existence because there's always the potentiality of an undoing."

Sterling silver and cotton ribbon chain in white, 2022.

Sterling silver ribbon candle holders, 2023.

Natasha Ghosn recently unveiled a selection of bows in Mondo Mondo's new jewelry collection, a motif that's actively been on her mind since 2008 when she purchased a pack of deadstock bow barrettes in Midtown (leftovers from a bygone craft era). The millennial has been fascinated by the creepy baby doll style taking off in niche corners of the internet, which she feels is loosely related to the big-bow boom we’re experiencing as younger generations elaborating on the grunge-girl era defined by Courtney Love. Although we constantly cycle through trends, Natasha insists that "for something to hit, it has to be timeless." So for her own spin on the motif, the designer "tried to make it not a precious bow, it's kind of hard. I feel like The Powerpuff Girls are back and tough, cute girls… I’m into that vibe."

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As someone who appreciates the trickle-down effect that we’re currently seeing from fashion houses that are "building collections around the motif," Leo is excited to see bows—which he describes as an "ultrafeminine symbol"—adopted into the mainstream. "You can say a lot with a bow," he elaborates. "Thinking about how patriarchal society impacts design has led me to realize how ‘design standards’ are often steeped in ideologies which were imposed by patriarchal power structures. Too often when people think about feminine beauty they think of it as belonging to a certain place or time, as something frivolous that doesn't impose on the everyday or as an extra decoration rather than a focal point. So when I employ a motif like the bow, I’m really trying to encourage people to question their relationships to these motifs and asking them to think more deeply about what they mean and how they exist in contemporary visual culture."

The Bow pendant choker on a diamond-cut chain.

A close-up of the Bow studs in sterling silver.

In 2021, Joyce Lee launched the lifestyle brand Her Place with a ribbon that can be used as a bow, headband, blindfold, or restraint as a tool for empowering women about their sexuality. The bow is more than an accessory; it's a weapon in the superficial world of luxury. The modern bow could also be viewed as a feminist symbol that showcases the strength of sensitivity. "A ribbon by itself before it's tied into a bow is something with potential to be used in so many different ways," adds Anamaria. It may not be wrapped in a bow, but Lily Allen and David Harbour's bedroom is covered in an unraveling-ribbon wallpaper from Zuber ("Rose et Ruban Rayure"). "In my mind's eye, this room is one big pink bow," notes Lila Allen, senior editor of AD PRO.

Similar to the Middle Ages Modern trend, this era of big bows feels like a force to be reckoned with. I probably won't be walking around wearing big bows on my cardigans, button-down shirts, ballet flats, or as a dress anytime soon (mostly because I don't want to be mistaken for a clown), but I’m certainly tempted to follow Adam Charlap Hyman's lead by tying ribbons on my lighting fixtures. Someone recently pointed me in the direction of this pair of lead bow ribbons, which I thought were expensive until I found out that LoveShackFancy sells a $3,500 wall bow. As Anamaria reminds us, "Unlike a lot of trends or fads where it's just one type of look, the bow can look and say something different depending on how you place it in your home, what color you have, all that kind of stuff."