Aprons Have Gone High Fashion—But It’s Giving Me the ‘Trad Wife’ Ick

I believe that fashion, at its highest form, is art. And like art, it’s meant to be controversial—it’s meant to make you think. But to reference Miranda Priestly’s cerulean speech in The Devil Wears Prada, even the loftiest fashion trends trickle down to real life. Fashion has influence, it shapes (and dresses) the culture. Usually, I’m all for the fresh crop of styles and ideas that step off the runway, and I’m fascinated by the ways in which they take form in the everywoman’s closet. But now that aprons (yes, kitchen aprons) have started trending as a fashion statement, I can't help but to step back and examine the implications—which have left me pretty disturbed.

For spring/summer 2026, Miu Miu sent frilly, floral and bedazzled aprons down the catwalk. Talia Byre, meanwhile, turned them into eveningwear. Stars like Emma Corrin and Chloë Sevigny have worn aprons to red carpet events. At a more grounded level, apron skirts—lacy, feminine, tied at the waist—are picking up as a layerable accessory.

What were once fringe ideas of regression are increasingly becoming more mainstream, touted by “manosphere” podcasters, conservative talking heads and even high-ranking government officials. United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, for one, reposted (and praised) a video on social media in which ultraconservative Christian pastors advocate for repealing the 19th amendment—and relegating women back to the sole roles of “wife” and “mother.” Last month, the New York Times published a report on “The Women Who Believe That Women Should Lose the Right to Vote.” It is even more horrifying when you realize that the call is coming from inside the house.

In the midst of this hard-to-ignore emboldening of the patriarchy, is it any wonder that the emergence of aprons as a cutesy fashion trend only serves to make my stomach churn?

Listen, I can grasp the not-so-subtle irony at play here. Do I think Miuccia Prada, one of the most powerful women in the fashion industry, wants us all to get back into the kitchen? Of course not. But in a political climate where women’s rights have been legislatively gutted, where a “trad wife” movement continues to gain momentum and where the people in power openly express their desire to take society—and a woman’s place in it—backwards, attempting to reclaim this 1950s symbol of domestic servitude falls flat. At best, it’s tone-deaf. At worst, it perpetuates the propaganda. I, for one, won’t be falling for it.