Zoë Kravitz makes raffia bags work with city tailoring

Zoë Kravitz is making raffia feel less like vacation styling than a city uniform with a little breathing room. In London, she paired a black jacket, white button-down, white tank, black trousers, loafers, sunglasses, and a colorful beanie with a tan straw tote, and the result was not beachy, but disciplined. The woven bag introduced the kind of organic texture that keeps monochrome from reading severe, which is exactly why this old-money shift feels current.

The new polish is texture, not excess

The smartest thing about the look is its restraint. Kravitz did not pile on jewelry, color, or obvious trend accents; she let the bag do the work of loosening a sharp outfit without breaking its line. Against black trousers and loafers, the raffia reads as a material choice, not a statement accessory, and that is the point: it looks deliberate, almost architectural, rather than breezy in the tourist sense.

That balance is what makes the outfit feel closer to city tailoring than to a beach edit. The black jacket and crisp white layers give the silhouette its structure, while the straw tote softens the geometry with weave and warmth. Even the colorful beanie feels strategic here, a small break in the palette that stops the look from becoming too polished to live in.

Why The Row made raffia credible

The bag at the center of this argument is The Row’s Estelle family, which the brand presents as an artisanally crafted tote in woven raffia with elongated woven handles, an open top, and a gently rounded base. That description matters because it places the bag in the language of craft and form, not novelty. The Row currently lists the Estelle Two Bag at $1,350, while a retail listing for the Estelle Bag in Raffia shows $1,150 and identifies it as part of the Spring 2025 collection.

That price range tells you where raffia has landed in fashion now. At The Row, it is no longer a casual straw carryall thrown in for contrast, but a luxury object with the same seriousness the brand brings to leather, cashmere, and precisely cut trousers. The difference is in the finish: the weave is artisanal, the shape is softly rounded, and the open top keeps the bag from looking overworked.

There is also a cultural code at play. Raffia has long been tied to a French-girl straw-bag fantasy, the kind of accessory that signals ease and a certain studied nonchalance. Kravitz’s version updates that script by putting the bag against black tailoring and loafers, which pushes it out of countryside nostalgia and into the language of modern city dressing.

This is not a one-off celebrity trick

The London outfit is only persuasive because it is part of a repeat pattern. A related Who What Wear and Yahoo Shopping story says Kravitz has been wearing raffia bags repeatedly this spring, including a full The Row look in New York with navy trousers, suede loafers, and a raffia tote. That second appearance matters because it shows the styling formula holding up in a different city, with a different color story, and with the same quiet confidence.

Style-tracking pages have followed her June 2026 rotation through London, New York City, Rome, and other stops, which is how a personal habit turns into a broader cue. A June 16, 2026 style-tracking page identifies the London look specifically as The Row’s Estelle Bag in Raffia paired with The Row loafers. The repetition makes the trend feel less like a celebrity flourish and more like a working wardrobe idea: one woven accessory, multiple tailored settings.

How the old-money look changes when the bag gets woven

This is where the old-money thesis becomes useful. Quiet luxury has often been interpreted as flat surfaces, neutral tones, and a strict obedience to minimalism. Raffia breaks that flatness without disrupting the discipline of the outfit, which is why it works so well with black trousers, loafers, and crisp shirting. It brings touchability to a uniform that might otherwise look polished but slightly closed off.

The shift is especially visible in summer, when strict tailoring can become heavy or overmanaged. A raffia tote gives the outfit air, but it does so without collapsing into resortwear, because the shape remains structured and the styling stays urbane. With a jacket layered over a white shirt and tank, the woven bag feels like the relief valve in the look, not the main event.

A few styling cues make the formula work:

• Keep the clothing disciplined: trousers, loafers, a sharp jacket, and a clean white base.

• Let the weave introduce softness, rather than adding more color or print.

• Choose a bag with clear structure, such as elongated handles or a rounded base, so the texture reads polished.

• Use one off-note, like Kravitz’s colorful beanie, to keep the outfit from feeling too pristine.

Why fashion media keeps returning to straw and raffia

The persistence of this story is not accidental. Who What Wear has been actively covering straw bags as a Spring/Summer 2026 trend, including a June roundup of straw bags and a separate piece making the case for raffia hobos as a strong summer bag direction. The site’s editors, including Allyson Payer, Nikki Chwatt, Bianca Nieves, and Eliza Huber, have kept the category in view, which helps explain why Kravitz’s tote reads as part of a broader visual shift rather than a single street-style moment.

That broader shift is about use as much as image. A raffia bag that once belonged almost exclusively to coastal dressing now appears stable enough to sit beside tailored black trousers and loafers in the city. In The Row’s hands, and on Kravitz’s shoulder, it stops being a seasonal prop and becomes the kind of finishing touch that makes a strict summer wardrobe look lived in, not staged.