Though the phrase “go big or go home!!” might conjure frightening images of American frat boys doing keg stands or something, the sentiment has very steadily been creeping into fashion over the last 12 months. From indie designers and heritage houses, fashion’s tastemakers are blowing up their accessories to proportions not yet seen before. This year, the rising Swedish designer Beata Rydbacken dominated our feeds with her viral Big Clip Hoodies, which reimagined the classic hair clip as a kind of XL brooch. Now, Rydbacken returns with her latest invention, the Big Stud belt, which reconfigures the emo accessory by doing away with the leather and looping together a succession of giant studs.

The Parisian designer Rohan Mirza has also become known for his blown-up proportions, creating his own hoodie with a huge pink zip stitched onto grey jersey. Amsterdam designer Roy Adriaens is another big proponent of the trend – his output includes giant 3D-printed bracelets, oversized iPod shuffles transformed into bangles, and a supersized safety-pin fascinator recently worn by pop star Ashnikko. Elsewhere, London-based brand Chöke counts its Big Button Cap as a signature piece, while Parisian label Zomer were well ahead of the curve, sending giant claw clips and oversized belts down its SS26 runway last September. And it’s not just the indie designers: Chanel featured comically large raffia beach bags in its 2026 Cruise show, while Lululemon recently caused a stir with its ridiculously named, 80-litre “Big-Ass Bag”.

So, who and what is this all for then? As fashion objects, the pieces are clearly declarative: nothing screams “look at me!” more than a double C logo slapped across a four-foot beach bag. Fashion should be a statement of confidence, and a designer secure in their own vision clearly won’t mind blowing it up to epic proportions. Alongside that, these brands are pushing aesthetics to the extreme in the age of the attention economy, where a giant hair clip is likely to get much more traction on the feed than, say, a tiny one. As trends ebb and flow, previously beloved items that seemed to dominate the conversation become passé. The micro bag trend of the late 2010s seemed like a cultural force at the time, but now it feels firmly out of date. What’s the opposite of Lizzo carrying a barely-visible Valentino handbag at the 2019 American Music Awards? A huge-ass studded belt from a Swedish indie designer, of course.

The word “whimsical” has become gratingly overused of late, but, unfortunately, it also applies here. People want to feel childlike and free in a world that’s forcing them to be the opposite, and retreating into a fashion world of cartoonish proportions does just that. But, though there is inherent humour in a supersized item that really shouldn’t be that big, that humour can easily veer into the tragicomic. These various needlessly oversized accessories are, of course, funny, but they also expose a depressing uselessness that borders on nihilism. Buttons, safety pins, iPods and hair clips no longer function in the way they are supposed to. Why not make everything massive? These designers seem to ask. The world is ending anyway.