2024 Was the Year of the Trinket
This year, the biggest thing in fashion was by far the smallest. Tiny medallions, shoelace-sized toys, and teensy Miu Miu cardigans so small that only Barbie could fit them — these micro accessories defined 2024 even more than the bags and sneakers they hung from.
And their outsized influence was reflected in their outsized volume. Only rarely would you ever see a single trinket swinging from a purse. Instead, these things appeared in swarms — clusters of keys mingling with bows, fun-sized Hello Kitty plushes, and even plastic produce. 2024 wasn’t just the year of the trinket but the year of many trinkets, of so many tchotchkes coming together to manifest a shred of personality in a sea of sameness.
Contemporary trinket fixation was formalized back in 2023 by singular moments. For instance, when the adidas Samba was only just entering ubiquity, young adopters began distinguishing their otherwise identical sneakers with charm-adorned laces. Similarly, bejeweled sunglasses charms earned a collaborative Gentle Monster eyewear collection the approval of celebs like BLACKPINK’s Lisa and Billie Eilish (and their impressionable fans). The simultaneous Sonny Angel boom was further indicative of the rising trinket wave — as was the customization cottage industry that sprung up around it. Like the charms themselves, these moments eventually coalesced into a greater whole.
The charm of charms became especially apparent just ahead of 2024. Balenciaga may not be as influential as it once was, but its late 2023 proposal of over-accessorized bags for Spring/Summer 2024 proved incredibly prescient. Bag charms, especially, hit critical mass as commercial brands like Diesel and Coach cashed in throughout the year with dedicated collections. Even The Row, the most taciturn brand in fashion, begrudgingly acknowledged trinket supremacy with the most The Row bag charm imaginable: a $500 leather strap knotted around a flat silver charm. It immediately sold out.
Trinket culture wasn’t only bag-centric. Personalized accessories like wallet chains became so ubiquitous that TikTok videos ranking — and shilling — the best options racked up tens of thousands of views. Taking note, Acne Studios released charm-printed jeans that allow one to wear charms on charms. In 2024, trinkets took over trucker hats, hiking boots, and water bottles. Yes, January’s Stanley Cup surge inspired a market for water bottle-sized charms so substantive that as recently as mid-December, “Stanley Cup accessories” remains one of the top five auto-fill suggestions for a “Stanley Cup” Google search. Every fashion-adjacent outlet, from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, has been chatting charms, to the extent that they’ve been crowned “luxury’s new entry point.”
In a rush to capitalize on the craze, some attempted to coin catchall phrases like “charmcore,” which inadvertently minimize the true fluidity of trinket culture. Whereas so many short-lived “-core” trends are one-offs anchored by specific garments, trinkets are genreless. Whatever your personal style, there is a teensy doodad with your name on it, evinced by everything from Swiftie friendship bracelets to gothy Kuromi collectibles to Crocs Jibbitz.
Informing worldwide trinket-fication is a desire to stand out without straying too far from the crowd. Participation in popular culture demands at least some level of uniformity, hence why everyone got adidas Sambas in the first place. But when everyone shares the same taste, does anyone actually have any? This is how trinkets gently combat conformity. Even a single dangling keyfob goes a small way towards establishing a sense of self amidst familiar codes; this is how bumper stickers and graphic T-shirts came to be.
Is it so crazy to posit that trinket fever exists at least partially due to the absence of monoculture? Without a single stylistic hook to hang our collective hat upon, everyone is (or wants to be) an individual. Thus, every shared garment, every shared space, every shared experience — from TSA bins to e-bike baskets — presents an opportunity to stand out (within reason).
And if a trinket or two earns its owner an ounce of distinction, then a whole pile of them must grant an entire personality. As you lose yourself in piles of plushes, keychains, AirPod cases, and plastic figurines, maybe you’ll find yourself, too.
