Are argyle sweaters still nerdy? The diamond pattern: from school cliché to contemporary trend

With the arrival of autumn and thus the return to school, the For You Pages of TikTok and Instagram, especially those of Gen Z, are filling up with nerdy girls and reading boys. These idealized and often romanticized social representations of front-row nerds are making a category long mistreated in pop culture increasingly cool and almost sexy. Certainly, the glamorization of geek fashion isn't new to fashion if we look at the unmistakable ugly chic style of Miuccia Prada or the work of Alessandro Michele at Gucci and Valentino, but during the latest fashion weeks, perhaps also thanks to the return of preppy and grandpa/grandma core, designers seem to have rediscovered a particular passion usually associated with nerds, namely for the argyle sweater, or diamond-patterned sweaters and vests.

The argyle pattern has been and is still partly today, thanks to the big screen, identificatory of the classic nerd look if we think of Raj Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory or Ryan Evans in High School Musical, but in reality the pattern originates in the upper echelons of society. Initially, the weave decorated socks and kilts of the Scottish Campbell clan, then becoming the uniform of wealthy British men and thus a symbol of old money life between horseback rides in the countryside and golf tournaments. But the diamond sweater, traditionally tied to a schoolboy style, has often also been portrayed in cinema and fashion in its preppy version: in Gossip Girl, Chuck Bass often wears one, while Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls uses it as the uniform of the sexy student. 

Even in the latest fashion proposals, a preppy reading of the pattern hasn't been missing: Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton creates a cardigan with embroidered beads that reprise the diamond pattern, while Thom Browne proposes it on a checkered pleated skirt. Elsewhere, at Proenza Schouler, the diamond sweater becomes a sort of asymmetrical scarf, while Maximilian Davis at Ferragamo in his latest winter collection creates a contrast between the formality of the argyle sweater and the eroticism evoked by gloves and leather pants. Michael Rider in his debut collection for Celine celebrated the pattern by proposing argyle sweaters paired with riding pants complete with thick, round glasses. Jonathan Anderson in the Resort 2026 of his eponymous brand has a community of artists and intellectuals, including actor Joe Alwyn and Bengi Unsal, director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, wear the nerd sweater.  

Sometimes the diamond sweater is inserted into bold and casual looks: this is the case of Daniel Lee who in his latest summer collection for Burberry pairs the piece with very eighties neon-colored denim suits. Always with an eye on the '80s, Dario Vitale proposes in his first at Versace not diamond sweaters but stoles for evening dresses, while in this genre in the SS26 of Onitsuka Tiger we find a wool polo with a retro floral diamond weave. In the SS26 of Vivienne Westwood, the melange wool pullover is often worn without a shirt, just as Amy Winehouse liked to do, who on many public occasions transformed her beloved Fred Perry diamond sweaters into real minidresses.

Even David Koma opts for a relaxed style in his first menswear collection, proposing an argyle cardigan paired with ripped jeans and flip-flops, while at Meryll Rogge and Kiko Kostadinov the sweater patterns are similar to kaleidoscopic figures and geometric patterns used for hypnosis. Again, the brand Kolor plays with layering by having a checkered shirt worn under a sort of transparent knit that reprises the argyle pattern with the classic red diamonds embroidered in the SS26. In some cases, the pattern is even perforated: Alexander Wang almost seems to engrave the diamond motif, making the underlying shirt dress stand out, while at Etro we find a sort of knitted sweater that recalls fishermen's nets in the collection. All that's left is to open grandpa's closet or take a quick look on Vinted to wear the sweater of the season.