Ultra sheer fashion on the red carpet – a hot trend or just plain controversial?
Fashion seemed to taking a sporty turn in the run-up to the forthcoming summer events, not least with the Paris Olympics and the UEFA Euro 2024 soccer tournament.

This was seen with the return of sweatpants and the craze for tenniscore, but fashion seems to be changing its mind, and moving in a more daring and audacious direction.

Even more than sportswear-inspired pieces, it's transparency that has been gaining ground for several months now, from the runways to the streets.

The trend emerged following the Spring/Summer 2024 fashion shows last October, and is now shaping up to be the star of the season – and even of the year – for women and men alike, despite the debates and controversy that the look can provoke.

The transparency trend didn't emerge overnight in the fashion world.

In the wake of the pandemic, fashion first became more comfortable and less formal, before returning to its pre-lockdown form, and embracing a wave of eccentricity and audacity.

This was reflected in the remarkable return of hotpants and micro-miniskirts, followed by a certain sensuality with trends such as the office siren, and progressively by pieces revealing certain parts of the body (crop tops, low-waist pants, sagging), lingerie worn as clothing, and last but not least, (almost) total transparency.

Read more: 2024 Met Gala: Looking back at a night of K-pop stars and breathtaking gowns

Kate Moss's iconic 'naked dress'

Contrary to popular belief, the "naked dress" didn't originate on the runways of the Spring/Summer 2024 fashion weeks – far from it!

It was Kate Moss who brought this difficult-to-wear piece (for the average person, at least) to the fore back in 1993.

It's impossible not to recall the world-famous photo of the then 19-year-old model, posing as naturally as possible in a dress that revealed almost every inch of her body.

This iconic piece is now housed in London's Victoria and Albert Museum, but its exact replica was – perhaps not coincidentally – auctioned off this spring, pushing the naked dress even further into the spotlight.

During the Spring/Summer 2024 shows, almost all the designers and major fashion houses present seemed to have already agreed to make transparency the star of the season.

With 3.1 Phillip Lim and Acne Studios to Simone Rocha, Tom Ford, Mugler, Missoni, Isabel Marant, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabbana, Coperni, Courreges, Blumarine and Dior, to name but a few, many luxury brands celebrated the female form by revealing their bodies and/or undergarments.

A veritable ode to sensuality, but even more so, to the liberation of the bodies of the wearers.

Indeed, this trend could be seen as part of the broader body-positive movement, despite the lack of diversity in body types seen on the runways.

Read more: Rizzing it on the riviera: 2024 Cannes Film Festival red carpet highlights

Tulle, chiffon and fishnet

As is often the case, transparent garments spotted on the runway at fashion weeks – mostly dresses and tops designed in lightweight fabrics such as chiffon, tulle and organza, or featuring cut-outs like fishnet and mesh – were soon seen on the red carpets of the most prestigious events.

Since the beginning of 2024, transparency – and more subtle sheers – have even become ubiquitous on the red carpet.

Take, for example, the dresses of Saweetie, Anita and Florence Pugh at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, the gowns worn by Miley Cyrus and Charlotte Lawrence at the Grammy Awards, and those of Kate Beckinsale and Christina Ricci at the Golden Globes.

More recently, the craze for transparency has moved up a level among celebrities. And the Met Gala, despite its "garden of time" theme, saw this trend very much at play.

The creations worn by Jennifer Lopez, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, Emily Ratajkowski, Emma Chamberlain and Janelle Monae were each more suggestive than the next.

But it's undoubtedly at the Cannes Film Festival that transparency seems to have taken over fashion, with Bella Hadid's appearance as the highlight.

The American supermodel's breasts were clearly visible underneath a sheer creation, which the waiting photographers didn't hesitate to snap.

This sparked a great deal of discussion and prompted many people to wonder whether it's actually possible (and legal) to walk the streets of France, or elsewhere in the world, revealing yourself in this way?

In France, the answer is no.

If the average person on the street is tempted to follow the trend, they should be aware that they could face being fined.

"The fact of revealing one's nudity in a place accessible to the public eye may be punishable by law," says legal expert Sonia Cherifi in an interview with 20 Minutes.

Indeed, the law states that sexual exhibition in a place in public view can punished by one year's imprisonment and a fine of €15,000 (approximately RM76,400).

While a number of conditions must be met before such a penalty can be imposed, there's no doubt that it could give more than one fashion fan pause for thought before trying out the "naked" look.

The fact remains that many fashion search engines have already reported spectacular increases in clicks for these naked dresses, while the hashtags #nakeddress and #nakedclothing are the talk of the Chinese social network TikTok, with several thousand posts to date. – AFP Relaxnews
fashion,trends,runway,fashion weeks,red carpet,Met Gala,Oscars,Cannes Film Festival
This season, the fashion industry and its aficionados seem to be on board with one major trend: transparency. But is it just too much?