Timothée Chalamet Is Trying to Make Scarves Happen

What is a fashion icon without a recognizable uniform? Anna Wintour owns the astonishingly precise bob and wide-rimmed sunglasses. Karl Lagerfeld cornered the market on low white ponytails and sharp suiting. Jane Birkin became synonymous with the image of the over-adorned purse. Well, among us today is another legend in the making, committed to a hyper-specific sartorial staple that may one day be a pillar of his entire identity. I am of course talking about Timothée Chalamet and his silly little scarves.

Armed with a wispy moustache and a mischievous smile, Chalamet has been doing the most throughout the press tour for his newly released Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. He’s entered the red carpet on a bike. He’s cosplayed a Y2K-era Dylan (blonde wig and all). He’s gallivanted about with his longtime girlfriend Kylie Jenner. It’s been a very illuminating time for us all. And throughout this period of unadulterated self-expression, he has revealed himself to the world as a man who, above all else, loves an unnecessary scarf.

It started at the beginning of his press tour in December 2024. To complete the aforementioned cosplay of Dylan, he fastened a grey-striped scarf loosely around his neck, not unlike your local hipster barista. Weeks later, at the Golden Globes 2025, he eschewed a conventional necktie, instead flinging the fabric around his well-tailored suit jacket shoulder with the chicness of a discerning French movie star.

Since then, the experimentation has only intensified. He wore a thin pink iteration with a Chanel leather jacket. He leaned into holiday bliss in a gauzy green design with gradient red pants. At a photocall in Rome, he wore a brown Prada suit with his scarf tightly wound around his neck.

This kind of accessory is certainly nothing new. Nestled between the anarchy of early 2000s red carpets and the subsequent ubiquity of Twee, the ornamental outfit-completing scarf has lived a life rich with cultural significance long before it piqued Chalamet’s interest. In the 2010s, Vanessa Hudgens famously wrapped linen fabrics around her neck with skinny jeans and Tumblr-era cardigans. Before that, Lindsay Lohan was known to sport skinny scarves to red carpet premieres with unexpected pairings like flip flops and velour tracksuits.

Much like the unnecessary belt, the needless neck accessory is about taking an item’s utilitarian purpose and flipping it on its head. Will it keep you warm? Not necessarily. But such basic markers of physical comfort are not the point here. A gratuitous scarf can make an otherwise boring outfit feel fun and risk-taking, if a little whacky. Timothée Chalamet gets this, and he’s not alone.

In 2025, the purely aesthetic scarf is being peppered throughout pop culture. Daniel Craig has been known to sport below-the-chin accoutrements. Anya Taylor-Joy recently made the case for the formal sash on the red carpet. But no one seems as deeply committed to the bit as Chalamet. He’s carving out his singular sartorial reputation, one swathed neck look at a time.