Berets Are Chicer Than Ever

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Is there anything more quintessentially French than the beret? Thanks to designers like Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior and Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, the iconic chapeau favored by everyone from beatnik artists to political activists is more relevant than ever now.

Last season during Paris Fashion Week, Rihanna sat front row at Dior wearing a leather beret cocked to the side as she watched models marching down the runway in identical styles. Berets have been a Dior staple for decades, but they took on a new sense of purpose during this politically-charged season, signaling an aesthetic for the new revolution.

During the turbulent 1960s, leather berets were the piece de resistance of the Black Panthers’ uniform. The classic flat caps have always carried a militant edge. They’ve been the French Army’s headgear of choice for well over a century. Guerilla revolutionary Che Guevara routinely wore a Basque-style beret with a silver star. Beyoncé sparked controversy over her 2016 Super Bowl halftime performance, where her backup dancers all donned black berets as a tribute to the Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter movement.

But while it’s easy to get wrapped up in the political symbolism of berets, at the end of the day they’re simply chic to the core. Picture: an achingly timeless Brigitte Bardot, with her champagne blonde hair tucked into a black beret. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie & Clyde, Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep, Cher Horowitz in Clueless…the beret film references alone deserve their own dedicated Tumblr page.

And then there’s a verifiable trove of high fashion beret moments including: Coco Chanel herself, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell on Azzedine Alaia’s catwalk in 1991, and Alessandro Michele’s eccentric era at Gucci. Naturally, berets have made their way into the pages of CR. They’re experiencing a resurgence in menswear, too, appearing in the latest collections for Prada and Louis Vuitton, where they channeled a Jean Michel Basquiat vibe.

Another noteworthy thing about berets is: the times change, but the style remains the same. Lalhere-France, the oldest traditional beret factory, has been making them the same way since 1840. They look just as cool in 2017, when they’ve become a new staple for models off duty and street style stars. Thanks to Dior, you’ll be seeing berets in fashion magazines everywhere for the next six months. All things considered, you won’t find a more expressive accessory. Berets are more than just a hat—they’re a state of mind.

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