After Maya Jama was seen wearing the sentimental piece in the final episode of Love Island: Aftersun, people have demanded that the black choker necklace make a comeback.
Maya Jama strutted onto Love Island Aftersun channelling her inner Majorcan goddess, in a black netted one-shoulder floor-length gown, her hair tied into a ponytail and her neck graced with a simple necklace. To my surprise, she’d opted for a thin black piece of fabric around her neck. Lo’ and behold, the return of the choker necklace.
Chokers have been around for decades and date as far back as the late 19th century. They’ve re-emerged several times, in the 1920s and 1940s and most notably in the 1990s in line with punk, grunge, and alternative culture. Drew Barrymore, Winona Ryder and Gwen Stefani were among the many celebrities getting involved with the choker trend.
Then in the mid 2010s, the choker made yet another resurgence among young people on social media platforms like Tumblr and Instagram, and now it seems Maya is steamrolling their return again 10 years later. It comes as The Mirror recapped Love Island 2025’s shocking moments during second most complained about series.
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If you were a 90s or 2010s teen, you’d be all too familiar with the retro look, Millie Bobby Brown blew her Gen Z fans away with the “new” accessory in a number of promotional snaps from her most recent shoot with Essentia Watera.
Lily Gladstone stayed true to her choker, telling People Magazine that she still wears the same one she bought in middle school. “The necklace that Chloe wears, the black choker that’s kind of stretchy and looks like a neck tattoo,” Gladstone said last year. “I still have mine from middle school and I definitely rock it whenever I can.”
Ariana Grande, Zoe Saldana and Elle Fanning wore diamond encrusted ones at the Oscars earlier this year. But for those on a tight budget, don’t fret, it looks like the black plastic, painfully tight, interlaced chokers are making a retro revival.
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Social media users are increasingly creative with their choker designs these days, with many turning to DIY to make their own bespoke necklaces, frequently decorated with spikes, jewels, chain links, pearls, and other embellishments.
On TikTok, there are currently over 180k videos using the #chokernecklace tag. The traditional black choker necklace made a comeback in one viral video from last year, according to creator @daniellemarcan. Another user stated in the comments that they have worn the same pair since 2018 and that they have never stopped wearing them.
A third user posted a TikTok video wearing hers with the caption “Petition to return choker necklaces! “!
Source: Mirror
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