Trend File: The Summer of Shell Jewelry

At Prada’s fall-winter 2017 runway show, designer Miuccia Prada sent models down the runway in high-fashion versions of a tourist’s favorite: the shell necklace.

Worn with cozy cardigans, bulky sweaters, and even a knit bikini top or two, Prada’s puka shell necklaces (mixed with Southwestern-inspired silver) conjured twilight walks on the beach and kids playing dress-up amid boxes overflowing with fabrics and trinkets.

Shells had already been creeping into fashion-centric jewelry collections at that point—French designer Aurélie Bidermann, for one, had debuted her popular painted shell necklace design, Merco. But the Prada show rechristened the folksy shell as high-fashion fodder.

Shell necklaces at Prada’s fall-winter 2017 runway presentation—the show that launched a thousand crustacean cases (image courtesy of Prada)

There’s no telling how widespread the trend will be, but surely we’ll be seeing fashion-forward gals flock to chic shell pieces this summer—and my guess is that we’ll be spotting the look for several seasons to come.

Shells and shell motifs have also infiltrated designer accessories for summer 2018—check out this Tory Burch bag studded with pearlescent shells and these shell-inspired stilettos from Christian Louboutin.

Jewelry retailers not close to a coast should aim to stock creative, and even quirky, shell designs—not snoozy shell-motif metal charms and the like. The emerging trend hinges on inventive and elegant applications of humble puka, conch, and other shapely shells.

Below are a few of my favorite shell pieces on the market.