In 2019, Urte Katiliute was waiting tables in London, applying for design jobs that never called back. She returned to Lithuania, picked up a casual suggestion from a friend, and started selling handmade pieces on Depop. She spent 3 to 4 days stitching each pair of trousers by hand. Then COVID hit, the Instagram algorithm discovered her work, and orders started pouring in. By May 2026, her brand Urte Kat had kicked off the spiral trend, Summer 2026’s most talked-about micro-aesthetic. The Studded Spiral Trousers, priced at 300 euros (roughly $400), sold out repeatedly, got copied by DIY TikTokers, and landed on Charli XCX, Doechii, and PinkPantheress. One pair of pants rewired what “cool” looks like this summer.
The spiral trend (also called the studded spiral or swirl trend) is a Summer 2026 fashion micro-aesthetic built around graphic spiral motifs paired with metal studs, pulling from ’80s punk, ’60s biker culture, and ’90s acid-era mysticism. It went mainstream after Urte Kat’s trousers went viral on TikTok and Pinterest, and it’s now showing up in clothing, jewelry, and even home decor.
Last updated: June 2026
Quick answers
What is the spiral trend?
The spiral trend is a Summer 2026 micro-aesthetic centered on graphic spiral motifs paired with metal studs. It pulls from ’80s punk, ’60s biker culture, and ’90s acid-era mysticism. Lithuanian brand Urte Kat’s Studded Spiral Trousers popularized the look after going viral on TikTok, and the motif has since spread to brands like Gimaguas, Ottoman Hands, and YSSO.
Who started the spiral fashion trend?
Lithuanian designer Urte Katiliute started the spiral fashion trend through her brand Urte Kat, founded in 2019. Her Studded Spiral Trousers, featuring metal studs arranged in a swirl pattern on straight-cut wool pants, went viral on TikTok and Pinterest in early 2026 and became the catalyst for the wider spiral movement in fashion.
Where did the spiral trend come from?
The spiral didn’t appear out of nowhere. It sits at the intersection of three subcultures that have been cycling back through Gen Z fashion for years. The studs come from ’80s punk, when bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols made studded leather a uniform of rebellion. The graphic spiral motif traces back to ’60s biker culture, where motorcycle clubs hand-decorated vests with symbols that meant something only to insiders. And the mystical, swirling quality of the pattern connects to ’90s rave and acid-house visuals, the kind of graphic work you’d find on a flyer for an underground warehouse party in Manchester or Berlin.
What makes the 2026 version different is that these references aren’t separate. Urte Kat’s trousers smash all three together: straight-cut wool (biker-adjacent, not punk-tight), metal studs (punk hardware), arranged in a swirl that feels more psychedelic than aggressive. Who What Wear described the brand’s aesthetic as “Marc Jacobs at Perry Ellis meets Alexander McQueen,” which captures the tension between playful and dark that makes the pieces interesting.
The timing matters too. The broader “2016 is the new nostalgia” wave has been building all year. Indie sleaze is back. Quiet luxury is out, and maximalism is back in. People want clothes that say something again. The spiral fits that mood perfectly: it’s loud enough to notice, specific enough to feel like you’re in on something, and crafted enough to justify the price tag.
How Urte Kat turned a Depop hustle into a viral fashion brand
Urte Katiliute’s path to fashion stardom reads like a bootstrapping case study. She founded Urte Kat in Lithuania in 2019 after failing to land a design role in London. She started selling handmade pieces on Depop, spending 3 to 4 days crafting each pair of trousers herself. When COVID-19 lockdowns hit, the Instagram algorithm picked up her work and pushed it to a wider audience. Orders climbed. But the brand stayed small and intentional.
Her model is made-to-order, which keeps inventory risk at zero and waste low. Exhibition Magazine profiled her as a “young designer” championing subversion, craftsmanship, and fun. COEVAL Magazine noted the brand’s cross-disciplinary collaborations with local Lithuanian craftspeople and its incorporation of Lithuanian folklore elements into contemporary design. That’s the gap most fast-fashion knockoffs can’t replicate. The studs aren’t glued on by a machine in Guangzhou. They’re placed by hand.
The Studded Spiral Trousers retail for 300 euros (approximately $400). They ship on a 4 to 5 week pre-order window. The brown and black colorways both sell out consistently. The brand has expanded into stockists like H. Lorenzo in Los Angeles, NUBIAN in Tokyo, and Filia Store in Europe. For a label that started on Depop during a pandemic, that’s a distribution story worth studying.
What celebrities are wearing the spiral trend?
Charli XCX has been the spiral trend’s most visible champion. Her “brat summer” aesthetic from 2024 evolved naturally into the studded, punk-inflected look that defines the spiral movement. Doechii, fresh off her Grammy wins, has been photographed in Urte Kat pieces that blend the spiral motif with her signature office-meets-streetwear style. PinkPantheress rounds out the trio, bringing the trend to a younger, TikTok-native audience that responds to the acid-mystical side of the spiral aesthetic more than the punk edge.
What’s notable is that none of these artists are traditional fashion ambassadors. They didn’t get paid to wear the pieces (Urte Kat isn’t at that budget level). They wore them because the aesthetic aligned with the music they’re making: dark, nostalgic, a little chaotic, and very European. Gen Z style in 2026 rewards personal taste over brand prestige, and these three artists embody that shift.
Beyond the celebrity core, the trend is spreading through fashion influencers like Lucy Williams and content creators on TikTok who are posting DIY versions of the spiral trousers. One viral TikTok showed a creator transforming thrift-store trousers into a spiral-studded pair for under $30, which tells you the aesthetic has crossed the price barrier that limits most designer-driven trends.
Which brands are making spiral fashion pieces?
Urte Kat is the origin point, but the spiral has spread across categories. Here’s what’s available now.
Gimaguas launched the Claude Studs Dress, a sleeveless mini with silver-tone floral studs and a silk finish, priced at 169 pounds. It comes in black, pink, and gold colorways. The dress sold out within seconds of its first drop, per WhoWhatWear’s reporting. The Barcelona-based brand has been building a following for its playful, studs-and-color approach, and the spiral collection hit at the exact right moment.
Ottoman Hands, a jewelry brand rooted in Turkish artisan traditions, released the Megara Sterling Silver Spiral Stud Earrings (99 pounds). The brand’s focus on handcrafted, semi-precious stone work gives its spiral pieces a more bohemian feel compared to Urte Kat’s punk edge. Ottoman Hands is stocked at Nordstrom, Macy’s, and independent retailers across the UK and US.
YSSO, a Greek jewelry brand based in Athens, added spiral and swirl motifs to its Cote collection. The 24kt gold-plated earrings (320 pounds from Mytheresa) sit at the luxury end of the trend. All YSSO pieces are handcrafted in Athens.
Free People entered with the Kenzie Studded Halter (141 pounds via Revolve), making the spiral motif accessible to a wider, mall-adjacent audience. That’s a signal the trend has hit the mainstream adoption curve.
| Brand | Key piece | Price | Category | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urte Kat | Studded Spiral Trousers | 300 euros (~$400) | Clothing | Statement investment piece |
| Gimaguas | Claude Studs Dress | 169 pounds (~$215) | Clothing | Summer going-out look |
| Ottoman Hands | Megara Spiral Earrings | 99 pounds (~$125) | Jewelry | Entry-level spiral accessory |
| YSSO | Cote 24kt Gold-Plated Earrings | 320 pounds (~$405) | Jewelry | Luxury collector |
| Free People | Kenzie Studded Halter | 141 pounds (~$180) | Clothing | Accessible mainstream option |
Is the spiral trend just another TikTok fad?
Probably not. Three signals suggest it has staying power beyond the usual 6-week TikTok cycle.
First, the spiral is crossing product categories. When a motif jumps from clothing to jewelry to homeware (Sophie Lou Jacobsen’s spiral coasters, L’Objet’s gold-plated Spirale cutlery set at 315 pounds), it’s embedding itself in lifestyle, not just wardrobes. Past spring trends that made this jump, like terrazzo and mushroom motifs, lasted 2 to 3 seasons rather than weeks.
Second, the price spectrum is widening fast. You can buy into the spiral trend for under $30 via DIY TikTok tutorials, around $125 with Ottoman Hands jewelry, or north of $400 with Urte Kat trousers and YSSO gold pieces. When a trend spans that range within months of emerging, it’s usually because the underlying aesthetic resonates beyond one demographic.
Third, and this is the fashion-industry tell, the spiral pulls from durable subcultures. Punk studs, biker graphics, and psychedelic swirls have all had multiple mainstream revivals since their origins. The 2026 spiral isn’t inventing a new aesthetic. It’s remixing proven ones through a Gen Z lens that values “dark playful” over “clean minimal.” That cultural underpinning gives it more longevity than a pure novelty trend.
What the spiral trend tells us about where fashion is heading
The spiral trend matters beyond what you wear this summer. It’s a case study in how fashion trends form in 2026.
The old model was top-down: a designer showed it on a runway, magazines covered it, and consumers adopted it 6 to 12 months later. Urte Kat skipped all of that. A 20-something in Lithuania made trousers by hand, posted them online, and TikTok’s algorithm did the rest. No fashion week. No magazine cover. No celebrity deal. The celebrities came to her organically because the product was good and the timing was right.
That’s the playbook emerging brands should pay attention to. Urte Kat’s made-to-order model means zero unsold inventory. Her 4 to 5 week shipping window creates scarcity without artificial drops. Her hand-production process becomes a brand story that TikTok’s audience finds more authentic than mass manufacturing. And when bigger brands like Gimaguas and Free People pick up the motif, it validates the original rather than replacing it.
For founders watching the fashion space, that’s the model worth studying. Not the spiral itself, but how a one-person operation in Vilnius created a trend that Barcelona, Los Angeles, and Tokyo are all chasing 7 years later. The product has to be specific enough to be recognizable, the origin story has to be real enough to survive scrutiny, and the price point has to leave room for the market to build around you.
How to wear the spiral trend without going full costume
The most common mistake with a bold trend like this is over-committing. You don’t need spiral trousers, a spiral dress, spiral earrings, and a spiral coaster on your coffee table. Pick one piece and let it anchor your outfit.
If you want to go bold, start with Urte Kat’s trousers or the Gimaguas dress. Pair either with something simple: a plain white tee, black boots, minimal accessories. The spiral piece does the talking. Stacking spiral motifs reads as costume, not style.
For a subtler entry point, Ottoman Hands’ Megara earrings or a Sezane Thais bracelet (100 pounds) add the spiral motif without overpowering your look. Jewelry is the lowest-risk way to test a trend, and these pieces will still work after the spiral’s peak buzz fades.
The DIY route is also real. The ’90s rave fashion revival showed that DIY approaches to subcultural style have staying power. Multiple TikTok creators have posted tutorials for adding studs in a spiral pattern to thrift-store trousers. Total cost runs $20 to $30 in materials. The results won’t match Urte Kat’s precision, but they capture the spirit of the trend while keeping the budget in check.
