From celebrity endorsements to digital fatigue, the once-obsolete white wire has become a fashion statement and a quiet act of opting out
With white-wired headphones endorsed by celebrities including Lily-Rose Depp, Paul Mescal, Bella Hadid and Apple Martin, a growing number of people are breaking away from wireless listening.
For inspiration, there is the Instagram account @wireditgirls, or a Balenciaga campaign featuring the model Mona Tougaard reclining bed, wired headphones in place.
Daniel Rodgers, the fashion news editor at British Vogue, is familiar with the trend. “[It says] ‘I’m very effortless. I’m very nonchalant,” he says. “It’s become a real styleable accessory.”
But in a culture where the forward march of technology is often treated as compulsory, wired headphones represent more than aesthetics. “It’s an analogue way of opting out – of both tech but also life,” says Rodgers. “They’re visible in a way that AirPods aren’t. There is a sense of ‘do not disturb’.”
