The Beatles’ Closet Secrets: Decoding a 60-Year Style Legacy

This summer in Paris, British designer Craig Green sent models down the runway wearing coats inspired by vintage bedsheets: rose prints, paisley patterns, the kind of florals most people relegate to the back of the linen closet. His spring/summer 2026 collection finale featured four barefoot models walking single file, a direct homage to Abbey Road. Speaking backstage, Green said he traced his entire collection to The Beatles‘ late psychedelic period: “What they achieved was almost like a miracle.… It’s almost otherworldly. It’s the joy of doing things.”

This enduring influence gains fresh perspective as Paul McCartney’s photography exhibition, Eyes of the Storm, makes its Canadian debut at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario in February. After touring globally from London to Nashville, it arrives with more than 250 candid photographs taken during the first North America tours. McCartney’s intimate photos illustrate how The Beatles’ style emerged from genuine curiosity and creative control: authenticity was their ultimate luxury, the courage to look different, to risk ridicule, to invent rather than imitate.

The Beatles didn’t just change music. They rewrote the way men present themselves, onstage and off. Even when they were made Members of the Order of the British Empire for their artistic contributions, they joked that it was in part because British-made working-class corduroy, also known as Manchester cloth, was elevated to high fashion so successfully that it boosted sales. The Beatles became the ultimate source of soft power. During this period, their nipped-waist, double-breasted neo-Edwardian jackets were designed by Andrea Bussell, mother of ballerina Darcey Bussell.

The Beatles popularized collarless jackets and the skinny suit silhouette, which has returned as a marker of modern menswear. They confidently played with elements traditionally considered feminine: flowing scarves, Cuban-heeled boots, bold jewellery. So secure were they in their image, stylists credit them with inventing the metrosexual decades before the term existed.

The Beatles approached their fashion as creatively and intentionally as their music. Each transformation, from Hamburg leathers to tailored suits to psychedelic finery, was a deliberate reinvention, not mere youth rebellion. They established the template that every pop star since has followed. George Harrison invented acid wash jeans on the set of Help! and John Lennon popularized the black leather mariner cap on The Beatles’ 1964 U.S. tour, making it so iconic it became known as the John Lennon cap. In 1965, he had former Liverpool School of Art classmate Helen Anderson customize a version with a higher crown to make him more visible to paparazzi. Paul McCartney jumpstarted a knitwear trend when he wore DIY styles on the set of Magical Mystery Tour, and the military regalia featured on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band launched a trend that continues today, with H&M recently paying homage to that very look.

Their clothing tells the story of the band itself, a sartorial biography of four young men who understood that image and sound were inseparable. Image wasn’t incidental to their success; it was elemental. Fashion bonded The Beatles from the start: John, Paul, and George were first drawn together by looks and style. Had there been no shared style vision, there might never have been a band at all.

The Beatles never simply wore what designers gave them. Whether consulting with Soho tailors like Dougie Millings or Savile Row’s Tommy Nutter, they chose fabrics, dictated cuts, and refined every detail. Their fashion entrepreneurship went beyond the famous Apple Boutique: the rebranded Dandie Fashions on Kings Road became Apple Tailoring, while a Paris collaboration with couturier Ted Lapidus was planned as a third boutique. Fashion was integral to their concept of pop stardom, long before the rest of the world caught on.

After the breakup, their legacy remained potent across genres. Britpop stars like Oasis directly revived the Beatles’ image: sharp suits, shaggy haircuts, Lennon’s delicate gold wire-rimmed round glasses with their distinctive saddle bridge, asserting clear lineage. The Knack’s skinny ties and fitted suits made their power-pop look unmistakably Beatles-inspired. The Ramones transformed the coordinated band concept into punk rebellion, trading matching suits for matching leather jackets and bowl cuts.

Across decades, their visual legacy has continued to shape artists. Harry Styles draws on Beatles-era floral prints and flowing silhouettes. BTS embraced coordinated suits inspired by The Beatles and collaborated with Thom Browne in London to create Beatles-esque looks. Heart adopted Beatles-inspired turtlenecks and androgynous styling, while The Bangles channelled psychedelic prints and silhouettes as part of the Paisley Underground movement, proving the look’s enduring relevance across both generations and gender lines.

High fashion constantly returns to The Beatles. Roberto Cavalli paid tribute to their psychedelic era with bohemian designs in 2017. Alessandro Michele, during his Gucci tenure, featured bold florals and psychedelic patterns inspired by George Harrison in 2017. Kenzo unveiled a line during Paris Men’s Week in January 2023 that included elements inspired by the White Album. Hermès presented black leather pieces with caps reminiscent of Lennon’s signature headwear in 2024. Last November, Alice + Olivia released its second Beatles-themed collection, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the band’s first U.S. tour. A long and winding road.

The Beatles’ transformative power worked in reverse, too. When John Lennon wore Spring Court G2 tennis shoes, originally designed for clay courts in 1936, he transformed them from sportswear into street fashion symbols. His choice to pair them with a white suit on the Abbey Road cover elevated humble plimsolls into coveted youth rebellion gear.

Major retailers also capitalized on Beatles fever. In 1964, Eaton’s department stores across Canada created in-store Beatle Bar sections selling Beatles combs, wallets, hats, short-sleeved shirts, badges, brooches, tea towels, and records. That same year, JCPenney marketed Official Beatle Wigs and leveraged its existing partnership with British designer Mary Quant, who had been with the chain since 1962, to cash in on the broader British fashion invasion that The Beatles had sparked for American consumers.

The influence reached home sewers when pattern companies released Beatles-inspired designs, including Butterick’s Yeah Yeah Yeah Jacket so fans could stitch their own Beatles looks. Today, Swedish shirtmaker Eton offers limited-edition Beatles collections featuring polka dots, paisley, and album-inspired motifs, proving Beatles influence spans from luxury to accessible fashion.

For The Beatles, clothing was as essential as music to their bond.

The Beatles didn’t chase fashion—fashion chased them. They dressed to please themselves, and the world has been trying to keep pace ever since. They made looking cool an art form: sharp, confident. That’s why, 60 years later, everyone still wants to dress like The Beatles. They’ve never gone out of style.

Deirdre Kelly is the author of the 2023 book Fashioning The Beatles: The Looks That Shook the World.

SHARE