Katie Holmes revives '90s cord necklaces as gold pendants return
Katie Holmes stepped out in New York with a leather cord and gold pendant, signaling that the easiest spring jewel is the one that looks almost improvised.
Katie Holmes gave the cord necklace a fresh case for spring when she was spotted in New York City on Thursday, May 7, wearing a simple leather cord finished with a shimmering gold pendant. The look was quiet, almost nonchalant, but that is exactly why it lands now: a fine-gold pendant loses some of its formality when it hangs from a cord, and the effect is less ceremonial than a chain, more like something pulled on with Breton stripes, straight-leg jeans, and a good coat on the way out the door.
That loosened-up feeling has been moving well beyond a single celebrity moment. Michael Kors put pendant necklaces into its Spring/Summer 2026 show on the first official day of New York Fashion Week, pairing a wallet worn as a necklace beneath a large abstract pendant, a reminder that the cord-and-pendant idea can skew polished and practical at once. The brand framed the collection around “earthy elegance” and a mix of escapism and sophistication. Gabriela Hearst’s Spring 2026 collection in Paris took the same instinct in a more symbolic direction, stringing 18-karat gold charms on cord necklace versions of the pieces. Ralph Lauren, too, folded cord necklaces into its Spring 2026 runway story, reinforcing that this is a runway-to-street revival, not an isolated paparazzi shot.
What makes the current return different from a full-on ’90s costume comeback is restraint. The new cord necklace is not trying to recreate an era piece for piece. It borrows the ease of the decade, then strips away the clutter. A single gold pendant on leather or silk reads more intentional than nostalgic, especially when the pendant itself has character, whether it is abstract, symbolic, or rooted in a classic shape. That lineage matters. Tiffany & Co.’s Elsa Peretti Bean pendant on a silk cord, designed in 1974, remains the luxury blueprint for turning precious metal into something casual enough to wear every day.
The style has been building for some time. Vogue Singapore noted in June 2024 that cord pendant necklaces were gaining traction across TikTok, Instagram, music videos, and celebrity street style, citing Sabrina Carpenter’s Brooke Callahan pendant in the “Espresso” video and Nicola Coughlan’s rope choker on a Teen Vogue cover. Marie Claire has since placed Jennifer Lawrence, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Gigi Hadid, and Bella Hadid in the same camp. The appeal is easy to understand: a cord necklace lets gold feel less precious and more personal, and that is precisely why it works with the jewelry already in a drawer. Swap a chain for cord, or thread a pendant you already own onto something softer, and the whole piece suddenly feels current again, without trying too hard.
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