The coolest place to wear a tie now? Out of the office

Here’s a confession: I am a 25-year-old who does not know how to tie a tie. There, I said it.

I grew up in a joint family where both my father and uncle held corporate jobs, but not once in their lives did I see them don a tie. To make matters worse, much to my mother’s abundant chagrin, I attended a school that also did not require us to wear ties as part of our uniform. Yet, since my adolescent years, I have been endlessly fascinated by the 58-inch piece of stitched fabric. The way it sat like a snake around the neck of men like Richard Gere or Robert Redford—barely revealing itself from underneath the stiff fabric of the collar—before falling into a carefully calibrated cascade of colours, prints, widths, and textures, each quality only the slightest nod to the personality of the wearer.

Today, Gen Z enters the workforce and pulls up to office desks with Stanley Cups and Labubus hanging from their tote bag. To them, and other fashionable employees, the tie is a serious accessory and an extension of one’s personal style. “In 2026, the tie is no longer a symbol of conformity or corporate lifestyle,” explains stylist Divyak D’Souza, who has styled men like Farhan Akhtar and Hrithik Roshan. “You can choose to wear it to the boardroom but also afterwards, as a scarf, to the bar with a casual cardigan. The tie is finally free from the shackles of a formal style statement.” Case in point? The recently concluded spate of spring/summer ’27 menswear shows where brands went all out when it comes to pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the accessory.

The Saint Laurent front row featured everyone from Heated Rivalry breakout star Connor Storrie to Oscar winner Rami Malek sporting ties that were cheekily tucked inside their shirts. Elsewhere, at Boloria, creative director Olivier Theyskens accessorised his looks with a series of long, dagger-sharp ties that peeked out from underneath the hem of a cardigan or hung loose below the belt buckle. “Ferragamo ended up folding and irreverently stuffing shirt pockets with their ties, while Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton went the more traditional route. But throughout it all, mid-width ties seemed to be all the rage. Nothing super skinny or super thick,” observes D’Souza.

The tie parade continues—from the printed trompe l’oeil ties at Acne Studios to the tone-on-tone neckwear at Ami Paris, or, my personal favourite, the paisley-covered ties at Celine that looked like they were block-printed in India. 

But it’s not just the ramp. When, in May, Harry Styles kicked off his ‘Together, Together’ tour in Amsterdam, he did so in a floral Celine tie, which he paired with navy trousers and a blue shirt. Fans adopted it quickly; ties in Harry Styles’s concerts became the equivalent of the friendship bracelets that marked Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour.

What’s clear is that most designers aren’t thinking about the office; in fact, they want you to run as far away from the workplace as possible. At Lakmé Fashion Week earlier this year, Péro’s show was a literal fever dream for cubicle workers, with cosy pyjamas, chunky knits, emotional support plushies and more, all of which riffed on office style. “Aneeth [Arora, the brand’s founder] wanted a lot of accessories that evoked workwear,” notes creative director Nikhil D, who styled the show. “So, we ended up using ties not only as they are traditionally worn on a shirt but also on a rolled-up sweater to hold it around your neck or shoulder, and to cinch oversized necklines. We also used them on jacket sleeves to create cheeky shapes tucked under watches.”

Péro isn’t the only homegrown brand thinking of the tie. Brands like Payal Singhal and Huemn offer versions in ikat and horse-print silk crêpe, while Kardo has ties made of handwoven Maheshwari checks. By layering a distinctly Western design with homegrown crafts, these brands are paving the way to create a new staple for south Asian men who can now strut into any room in formal black-tie attire while proudly carrying a piece of home on themselves. What better example proves my point than the image of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani pulling up to his swearing-in ceremony in a custom Kartik Research tie crafted from eri silk from Assam with jacquard floral motifs. 

This also means the ajrakh-printed tie my best friend got me from Tamarind Chutney three years ago before I moved countries has done its share of waiting. And it’s time I learnt how to finally tie the knot.