2 min readEveryone seems to be yearning for accessories of the past. Take a look at the latest runways or celebrity street-style moments and you’ll find Balenciaga Le City bags, McQueen skull scarves and even, miraculously, fedoras. However, the most subtle—and unexpected—accessory that has snuck its way into the wardrobes of the It girls happens to be a pair of wired earphones.
Last week, Hailey Bieber was spotted on a rare family outing with her parents, Stephen and Kennya Baldwin, as well as her sister, Alaia, an occasion for which she wore a relatively nondescript athleisure look. Mrs. Bieber paired a white tee with black flared leggings, and paired them with an inky zip-up jacket and sneakers to round things off. But the real star of the show was her wired earbuds, which added minute pops of color thanks to their neon green buttons and purple ear tips.
This was the second time in a week that Bieber was seen wearing those same wired buds, and just days later, Zoë Kravitz was caught embracing the accessory, too. Suddenly, these two have joined the ranks of growing number of wire advocates, including Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber, and Harry Styles. Sorry, AirPods.
Zoë Kravitz is seen listening to music with a pair of wired headphones on August 22.
But while the earbuds’ popularity continues growing, this isn’t exactly a brand-new phenomenon. A couple of years ago, Dua Lipa confessed in a viral video that she keeps multiple pairs of wired earbuds on her person at all times. Then, in 2025, Addison Rae brought the trend to a cultural peak when she released a song literally titled “Headphones On.” In the video, she is seen wearing wired earphones, and one point, she even shapes the cords into a heart.
As to why all the A-listers suddenly seem to be on the wired connectivity train, some prefer having one less thing to charge, while others claim the sound quality is better. There might even be a security element to it, because with a direct connection, the audio from their phones is not being sent over any sort of radio waves (no Bluetooth messes here).
But, perhaps the simplest answer is that it’s a casual cool-girl statement, a rejection of ever-changing forms of technology, and a wistfulness for a time when our music-listening sets didn’t have to be sleek, minimal and unfussy. And if anyone cares to disagree, well, these stars know how to block out the haters—wires and all.