Why fashion trains are back in the spotlight, courtesy Jonathan Anderson’s Dior

Some of the most striking Dior looks Jonathan Anderson has sent down the runway since joining the French maison last year were the trio that opened the Northern Irish designer’s fall/winter 2026-27 show in the Tuileries in Paris. The looks in question: shrunken, textured takes on Monsieur Dior’s Bar jacket paired with layered tutu skirts that had frilled trains at the back.

The train detail remains indelible. It’s a design code that has existed since medieval brides first wanted their big moment, and then became popular during the Regency era for ladies set on promenading. In more recent years the train has mostly been confined to the red carpet – in particular, the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first Monday in May, when the Met Gala has played host to some of the most dramatic trains in fashion history. Who could forget Rihanna in 2015 in the incredible imperial-yellow Guo Pei extravaganza with a five-metre (16-foot) train? Or Bad Bunny in 2023 with a floral train worn with his white, backless Jacquemus suit?

There is something especially alluring about a detail specifically intended to be a talking point. Take Emily Ratajkowski, who attended that Dior show in a dramatic look by the maison featuring bows and ribbons on either side (that at one point she had to retie on the fly). Beyond this “wardrobe malfunction” – or sartorial resourcefulness, if you will – the train has indeed become a conversation starter in recent fashion seasons. In New York the silk shirts at Daniella Kallmeyer had bias-cut trains from the hip; at Loewe knitted miniskirts were affixed with thick, almost tail-like trains; and at McQueen a high-neck minidress was finished with a sheer train – an entirely unmissable detail.

Charlotte Hicks, founder and creative director of Australian womenswear label Esse Studios, says a train allows for a truly memorable exit. Hicks often includes trailing scarves and draping details that float behind the wearer in her “minimalist with a twist” designs.