The Unexpected Rise of Pickle Core Fashion

Whether it’s through dill color, cute graphics, or personal taste (buds), it seems that pickles are having a moment in the fashion world. According to Pinterest’s 2025 Summer Trend Report, dill green is the “foodcore fad to saturate your For You Page and satiate your appetite for culinary-inspired clothing.” There is a range of pickle-style options available to consumers, covering everyone from casual pickle admirers to pickle-obsessed novelty seekers, so even the novice can have something to make a statement.

An early example of the fashion trend can be attributed to Jessica Slone, the owner of Bad Addiction Boutique. Back in 2023, she offered the infamous Pickle Jar Sweatshirt, which has since exploded across social media. She sold over 45,000 sweatshirts, bringing in over two million dollars in profit. The mixture of a TikTok algorithm primed for pickle content and a simple vintage design aesthetic made the Pickle Jar Sweatshirt an overnight sensation and solidified the style in the zeitgeist.

Somewhere in the middle of the pickle fashion spectrum lies the iconic Pickle Sl*t shirt, believed to have been first branded by The Original Pickle Shot. It is difficult to discern who released the first of this design, as hundreds of versions and styles of the Pickle Sl*t shirt have since appeared on Etsy, Redbubble and other sites. This design is frequently sold as a unisex tee, so every enthusiast in your life can show off how loose they are for pickles.

For the true pickle fiend, there is only one item available that will satiate such a thirst for brine. Unfortunately, this limited-release item is not available for purchase; it can only be won as a prize on the KFC UK Instagram account. It is the absolutely unhinged gherkin-filled puffer jacket, complete with built-in straw for “picklebacks on the go”, released as part of a social media announcement of the new KFC Pickled menu. “It's a bit unhinged, but that’s the point,” said KFC UK & Ireland brand manager James Channon.

Dill green colour palettes have been all over the red carpet and on designer runways since 2025. InStyle asked Jennifer Heinen, a fashion psychologist, where this craze might be coming from: “Food is emotionally loaded. It’s memory, comfort, ritual, and identity. Fashion is shifting from performance to feeling. In uncertain times, we don’t just want aesthetics—we want texture, taste, and story,” says Heinen. “Fruits and vegetables offer exactly that. They’re grounded. They let us feel something. They act as emotional anchors.”

Let your clothes emotionally anchor you, whether through a cute sweatshirt or a practical pickle-drinking jacket you’ll be terrified will pop every time you’re on the subway. You be the judge.