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In a July 2025 article in The Financial Times , Frank Everett, Sotheby’s vice chair of jewellery, proclaimed that the brooch is back. Everett has been talking about the return of the brooch for a decade now but this time round, he says, it is legit. Even as you remain skeptical, there’s one area that the brooch seems to have pinned its hopes on: the men’s suits. The Met Gala 2025 was a parade of brooches as attendees pinned the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” with a brooch. Punctuating most of the slick lapels, stylists called it the breakout trend of the night. At the Oscars again, brooches were front and centre.Stylist and image consultant Rishi Raj—a self-confessed brooch addict— says that brooches are having a moment because people are craving individuality, especially men, who are finally embracing adornment in a big way. He says, “For men, a brooch is the perfect gateway into jewellery. It’s less intimidating than wearing a necklace or earrings.” The red carpet visibility has also created acceptability.123341582International jewellery houses are keen to bring men into the jewellery fold, a reason why we see brooches on the red carpet. But brooches have been around since the Bronze Age when men used pins of flint or metal to fasten cloaks and tunics. By the 19th century, they were worn purely for ornamentation.Fashion historians note that brooches went out of style in the 1960s. Of late, though, editorials are full of ‘ten ways to wear a brooch’ hacks.Jewellery designer Roma Narsinghani, who founded her eponymous label in 2018, says brooches today are more than just a fashion trend, they’re a cultural mood. People want pieces that tell a story and connects them to something bigger, she notes. “Brooches have been part of so many traditions: royal regalia in Europe, ceremonial pins in Asia, talismans in different cultures. They’ve always carried meaning, and I think right now, that’s what people are craving—objects that feel personal and storied.” Narsinghani also attributes the rise to men wanting to experiment with personal style.To tackle damaging a garment, she reintroduced button covers, something you used to see back in the 50s. This can also help you double your brooches as buttons. “If I look back from 2019 to now, there’s def i nitely more openness to wearing brooches, and across genders.”123341598TACKING ONKolkata-based jewellery designer Eina Ahluwalia has noticed an uptick in demand for her monogram brooches. “Jewellery is experiencing a vintage mood revival. Brooches are feeling fresh again, and they are the perfect gender-neutral accessory.” Ahluwalia says they get requests for customised brooches. “I see a lot of people adding brooches to their bags, and I find that much more interesting than hanging a Labubu!” Even Tribe Amrapali, a brand known for traditional jewellery, has noticed a steady growth in this category. CEO Akanksha Arora says many factors are at play: first, the way we look at jewellery is changing—it’s now about self-expression; second, vintage culture is having a strong moment; people want pieces with history, or at least something that feels like it could be passed down.Delhi-based accessories designer Paulami Saha works with fabrics but started making brooches to repurpose textile waste. “I hadn’t imagined that there existed an audience who might shy away from traditional jewellery, yet embrace brooches as their signature statement. This was a revelation.” The dog and cat designs are their current bestsellers.Saha says brooches are a playful accessory that can turn any outfit into a conversation starter. Kanika Suri, director of Noida-based premium accessories label Tossido, says 2025 has seen a significant revival in brooches. “For us, the shift started post-Covid,” she says. It’s not about only the big pieces but there’s a lot of creativity around placement and layering. Their bestsellers are the animal brooches, enamel and studded florals, and pins with bugs.Tossido’s brooches range from Rs 699 to Rs 2,259. The choice of brooch depends on what you are wearing. Co-director Raghav Suri says, “A bandhgala often calls for more classic, vintage-style brooches, while you can wear quirky ones over a casual blazer.”123341593BE A LITTLE ‘EXTRA’Vandana M Jagwani, founder, Vandals and creative director of Mahesh Notandass, says the brooch revival is rooted in history and puts men front and centre of wearing jewellery—something they did quite regularly traditionally. She adds, “At the moment, men seem to be embracing brooches more than women. However, wearing a brooch every day still feels a bit ‘extra’ for most.”But that “extra” is what Raj says will make a powerful style statement as he calls them “little personality injections”. Brooches are surprisingly versatile. His advice? For work, pick sleek, small, geometric shapes or initials and place on your blazer lapel, shirt placket, or the base of a tie knot. For evenings, go for oversized florals, gem-encrusted pieces, or sculptural designs or layer two smaller ones together. For daily wear, go for quirky or personalised pins on denim jackets, sweaters, or tote straps. He says: “Always pin through a reinforced area like a lapel, seam, or double layer of fabric to prevent sagging or damage. For heavy brooches, add a backing disc or hidden safety pin inside the garment for support.”123341605The modern brooch is a free spirit: you can wear it on your shirts, waistbands, cinch or gather fabric on dresses or tunics, on any headgear and even clipped to chains, Raj says. Vinayak Modani, founder of Jaipurbased contemporary accessories brand Milk & Whisky, says people seek quirky picks with something unique like their stock market pin with a bull fighting a bear. He says, “One should invest in a brooch box with a mix of brooches in various sizes and finishes.”What excites Arora is the trend of layering multiple brooches together like curating your own mini gallery on your outfit. Her tip: “Start your collection with versatile, mediumsized pieces that work with multiple outfits. A classic floral, a geometric form, and something with a pop of colour make a great starter set.” Raj calls them wearable art—they don’t need sizing and transcend trends. His starter pack would include something classic (gold, silver, gemstone); something statement (oversized, sculptural) and something quirky/ personal. Looks for quality clasps and solid construction, he says.Narsinghani says that people are getting much more experimental with how they wear brooches—on shirt collars, sari pleats, belts, hats, handbags, even on the back of a dress.As Raj says, “The brooch was always underrated.” It’s time to pin it up.

President Donald Trump has indicated that the US may not impose secondary tariffs on countries continuing to procure Russian crude oil.There were apprehensions that additional secondary tariffs would have hit India in case the US decided to enforce them."Well, he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40 per cent of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot...And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it," Trump said on Friday.The US president made the remarks in an interview with Fox News aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska for a high-stakes summit meeting with Putin. The meeting concluded without any agreement on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.123338005On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said if "things don't go well" between Trump and Putin at the summit meeting, then secondary sanctions on India for purchasing Russian oil could go up.In an interview with Bloomberg, Bessent said, "I think everyone has been frustrated with Russian President Putin. We expected that he would come to the table in a more fulsome way. It looks like he may be ready to negotiate."

President Vladimir Putin walked on a red carpet, shook hands and exchanged smiles with his American counterpart. Donald Trump ended summit praising their relationship and calling Russia "a big power ... No. 2 in the world," albeit admitting they didn't reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine. By Saturday morning Moscow time, Trump appeared to have abandoned the idea of a ceasefire as a step toward peace -- something he and Ukraine had pushed for months -- in favor of pursuing a full-fledged "Peace Agreement" to end the war, echoing a long-held Kremlin position. The "severe consequences" he threatened against Moscow for continuing hostilities were nowhere in sight. On Ukraine's battlefields, Russian troops slowly grinded on, with time on their side. The hastily arranged Alaska summit "produced nothing for Mr. Trump and gave Mr. Putin most of what he was looking for," said Laurie Bristow, a former British ambassador to Russia. The summit spectacle Putin's visit to Alaska was his first to the United States in 10 years and his first to a Western country since invading Ukraine in 2022 and plunging U.S.-Russia relations to the lowest point since the Cold War. Crippling sanctions followed, along with efforts to shun Russia on the global stage. In another major blow, the International Criminal Court in 2023 issued an arrest warrant against Putin on accusations of war crimes, casting a shadow on his foreign trips and contacts with other world leaders. Trump's return to the White House appeared to upend all that. He warmly greeted Putin, even clapping for him, on a red carpet as U.S. warplanes flew overhead as the world watched. The overflight was both "a show of power" and a gesture of welcome from the U.S. president to the Kremlin leader, "shown off to a friend," said retired Col. Peer de Jong, a former aide to two French presidents and author of "Putin, Lord of War." Russian officials and media reveled in the images of the "pomp-filled reception" and "utmost respect" that Putin received in Alaska. Putin has "broken out of international isolation," returning to the world stage as one of two global leaders and "wasn't in the least challenged" by Trump, who ignored the arrest warrant for Putin from the ICC, Bristow told The Associated Press. For Putin, 'mission accomplished' Putin "came to the Alaska summit with the principal goal of stalling any pressure on Russia to end the war," said Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. "He will consider the summit outcome as mission accomplished." In recent months, Trump has pressed for a ceasefire, something Ukraine and its allies supported and insisted was a prerequisite for any peace talks. The Kremlin has pushed back, however, arguing it's not interested in a temporary truce -- only in a long-term peace agreement. Moscow's official demands for peace so far have remained nonstarter for Kyiv: It wants Ukraine to cede four regions that Russia only partially occupies, along with the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014. Ukraine also must renounce its bid to join NATO and shrink its military, the Kremlin says. After Alaska, Trump appeared to echo the Kremlin's position on a ceasefire, posting on social media that after he spoke to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, "it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up." In a statement after the Trump call, the European leaders did not address whether a peace deal was preferable to a ceasefire. The pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda described it as a "huge diplomatic victory" for Putin, whose forces will have time to make more territorial gains. The summit took place a week after a deadline Trump gave the Kremlin to stop the war or face additional sanctions on its exports of oil in the form of secondary tariffs on countries buying it. Trump already imposed those tariffs on India, and if applied to others, Russian revenues "would probably be impacted very badly and very quickly," said Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd. consultancy. In the days before Alaska, Trump also threatened unspecified "very severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to stop the war. But whether those consequences will materialize remains unclear. Asked about it in a post-summit interview with Fox News Channel, Trump said he doesn't need "to think about that right now," and suggested he might revisit the idea in "two weeks or three weeks or something." Alexandra Prokopenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and a former adviser at the Russian Central Bank, posted on X that it was "an important tactical victory for Putin" that gives Moscow "an opportunity to build alternatives and be prepared." More pressure on Ukraine In a statement after the summit, Putin claimed the two leaders had hammered out an "understanding" on Ukraine and warned Europe not to "torpedo the nascent progress." But Trump said "there's no deal until there's a deal." In his Fox interview, Trump insisted the onus going forward might be on Zelenskyy "to get it done," but said there would also be some involvement from European nations. Zelenskyy will meet Trump at the White House on Monday. Both raised the possibility of a trilateral summit with Putin, but Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said it wasn't discussed in Alaska. The Kremlin has long maintained that Putin would only meet Zelenskyy in the final stages of peace talks. "Trump now appears to be shifting responsibility towards Kyiv and Europe, while still keeping a role for himself," Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center wrote on X. Fiona Hill, a senior adviser on Russia in his first administration, told that Trump has met his match because "Putin is a much bigger bully." Trump wants to be the negotiator of "a big real estate deal between Russia and Ukraine," she said, but in his mind he can "apply real pressure" only to one said - Kyiv. Hill said she expects Trump to tell Zelenskyy that "you're really going to have to make a deal" with Putin because Trump wants the conflict off his plate and is not prepared to put pressure on the Russian president. Far from the summit venue and its backdrop saying "Pursuing Peace," Russia continued to bombard Ukraine and make incremental advances on the over 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front. Russia fired a ballistic missile and 85 drones overnight. Ukraine shot down or intercepted 61 drones, its air force said. Front-line areas of Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Chernihiv were attacked. Russia's Defense Ministry said it had taken control of the village of Kolodyazi in the Donetsk region, along with Vorone in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine did not comment on the claims. Russian forces are closing in on the strongholds of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2022 but still only partially controls. "Unless Mr. Putin is absolutely convinced that he cannot win militarily, the fighting is not going to stop," said Bristow, the former ambassador. "That's the big takeaway from the Anchorage summit."

Donald Trump wanted to go bold -- a high-pomp, high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin to test whether the Russian leader would compromise on the Ukraine war.In the end, it looks like it was Trump, not Putin, who budged.Putin, visibly delighted as he stepped foot in the West for the first time since ordering the 2022 invasion, made no apparent concession at the talks at an Alaska air base.In a brief joint media appearance with Trump, who unusually took no questions, Putin again spoke of addressing the "root causes" of the Ukraine war and warned Kyiv and Europeans against disrupting "emerging progress" with the United States, the top defender of Ukraine under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.Trump, who bills himself as a master negotiator, acknowledged there was "no deal" but said there were "very few" areas of disagreement, although he was vague on what they were.But posting hours later on his Truth Social account, Trump said he wanted Russia and Ukraine to "go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war" and not a ceasefire.Trump's own administration had been pushing a ceasefire for months, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signing on after intense pressure from Trump. Putin had repeatedly rejected truce offers and kept up attacks on Ukraine, seeking to maximize battlefield advantage.Putin again woos Trump Trump had vowed to be firm with Putin after wide criticism of the US president's cowed appearance before him at a 2018 summit in Helsinki.But Putin again found ways to flatter and trigger Trump, who in his second term constantly speaks unprompted about his many grievances.Putin told Trump before the cameras that there would have been no war -- which Putin himself launched -- if Trump were president in 2022 rather than Biden, a frequent Trump talking point.Trump bemoaned the effect on ties with Putin of what he again called the "hoax" of the findings by US intelligence that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help him.In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity after the summit, Trump said that "one of the most interesting things" Putin told him was about... the US voting system.Trump said approvingly that Putin -- who has held power in Russia since 2000 and was declared the winner of elections last year with 88 percent of the vote -- told him of the risks of mail-in ballots and said of Trump's 2020 loss to Biden, "You won that election by so much."US election authorities and experts have found no evidence of wide-scale fraud from mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, which Trump, uniquely in US history, refused to concede.'Shameful' or wait and see? Trump's Democratic rivals voiced outrage that the summit secured no breakthrough and said it only served to normalize Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court."By quite literally rolling out the red carpet, Trump has legitimized Russia's aggression and whitewashed Putin's war crimes. It's shameful," said Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Experts said it was too early to write off the summit completely, as much is not known about what was discussed behind closed doors. Trump will meet Zelensky on Monday at the White House.Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, which backs US restraint, said that Trump's critics have been proven wrong in saying he would "give Ukraine to Putin or force Kyiv to accept surrender.""His focus has been and remains getting Putin to the negotiating table. Mr. Trump deserves credit rather than condemnation for his efforts so far," she said.But Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said an initial read was that "Putin scored a victory by showing up, and Trump's limited words and tense demeanor left Putin to control the narrative." "For a man so attached to showmanship, Trump unusually allowed Putin to be the star of what should have been the Trump show," she said.