Wired Earphones: Elegance and Rebellious Attachment
Wired earphones are making a big comeback. More than just a fashion statement, they represent a clear sign of resistance to ever-present connectivity.
Tuesday night on Earth. A letter written between Cannes and Paris. Feel free to share and recommend.
Search interest in wired earphones has been steadily rising since 2016, a curve that mirrors the growing omnipresence of social media in our lives.
What if the return of the wire were the expression of an aesthetic and sensory fatigue with the algorithmic?
The Quiet Comeback of Visible Wires
Fashion is a factory for recycling trends. Wired earphones are everywhere in pop culture and increasingly inform artistic direction choices.
In the launch video for Dior Backstage’s Rosy Glow Stick, Jisoo removes her earphones in the very first shot.
In August 2024, Chanel unveiled a jewelry-watch hybrid worn as a sautoir: the Première Sound, featuring built-in wired earphones in steel.
There’s even an Instagram account dedicated to IT Girls spotted wearing them.
Each sighting adds to a growing sense that, beyond style, wired earphones might signal a subtle form of resistance.
Silence vs. the Voice Assistant
No Bluetooth pairing. No voice recognition. No audio tracking.
Wired earphones embody a quieter, controlled, and less talkative relationship with technology.
They either work, or they don’t, no abstract interface layer in between.
In contrast to AirPods, which symbolize fragmented, background listening, wired headphones return as an interface of embodied, intentional presence.
The act of untangling the cord, the tactile click to play or pause a song — these are sensory anchors in a fluid world.
Wired headphones remain fully under the user's control: each gesture reflects a clear intention.
Sharing Wires: Humanity and Love
Wired earphones allow for something rare in our current digital habits: shared listening.
One ear each. One song. One playlist passed back and forth in silence, on a school bus, in a courtyard, a bedroom.
It’s a relic of teenage intimacy, where music created connection without a screen.
A gesture nearly lost, one that’s hard to replicate with wireless buds.
A Visual Sabotage of the Present Tense
The wire has gone beyond utility as it’s now a visual accessory. It dangles like jewelry.
It recalls a pre-cloud world, when connections were physical, visible, assumed.
Wearing wired earphones is, in a way, a refusal of platform ideology:
constant fluidity is interrupted, technological invisibility gives way to a tangible glitch, and perpetual capture is replaced by a single, contained usage.
The wire becomes bug, tether, static. It stands out in a world designed to be seamless.
It’s a discreet but potent visual and functional sabotage.
The Stat of the Week: x3
According to System1 and TikTok, ads created with content creators triple the brand image lift compared to traditional formats.
Amazing links
Everything Millennial is Cool Again (New York Times)
I was lucky to answer some questions: Inside Dior’s Viral Campaign: Redefining Luxury Marketing (Luxury Redefined)
A history of headphone design (SSENSE)
Iran : Splinternet vs the war (Hors Normes)
Have a great week! This newsletter is written with love, passion, and (French) coffee. Feel free to share this newsletter, like, comment, or keep sending me emails: these notifications are a joy.
My book “Alive In Social Media” is still available on Amazon.
I was radicalized against bluetooth headphones since no one ever sounded good using them on zoom calls lol. I just did my laundry and accidentally left my Apple earphones in my pocket, they miraculously survived the washer and dryer. Also its nice to have something that I don't have to charge every day. For people who appreciate sound quality, wired headphones are also much better!