Across global cities, once-occasional gestures have become routine: the pocket pat, the zip check, the instinctive tug of a strap closer to the body. These movements reflect a rising everyday caution on city streets, and an uptick in crime content online, including viral TikToks of attempted theft and clips of people discreetly twisting their engagement rings while on the tube. In a moment of heightened vigilance, fashion is being asked a new question: how do we dress for lives lived on alert?

Enter ‘guardian design’, a term identified by trend forecaster WGSN to describe a 2026 macro-trend in which anti-theft and privacy-protection features are aesthetically integrated, built-in components of clothing and accessories. It marks a move toward protection that’s discreet and embedded from

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