Top Trend: Transparent

It seems like the #freethenipple movement has been adopted with gusto by fashion designers this seasons as see-through dresses and tops ruled supreme on the catwalks. Yves Saint Laurent might have been the first designer to show a model’s nipples in a semi-sheer silk top on his catwalk, but he is by no means going to be the last.

Exposed breasts are now an equal opportunity fashion design element. And it is worth noting that for her debut collection at Christian Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, who has been a major proponent for female empowerment since her arrival at the house, had many of her models showing quite a lot of skin. It was almost as if she was daring her audience to look past the physical exterior to see the soul of the new Dior woman. That certainly looked to be what Bella Hadid was doing when she sported a transparent Dior dress to the brand’s ball back in January. “My eyes are up here gentlemen,” she seemed to be saying silently as she posed for the cameras.

                 Christian Dior                             Marco de Vincenzo                                     Wanda Nyon

Often designers prefer to use black as their color of choice when they go with a transparent fabric. The thinking being that most of the time anyone decides to wear a semi-sheer look from, say, Lanvin, Simone Rocha, Saint Laurent or Valentino, it is going to be for an after dark evening event. Where the pitch black night and the mood lighting lend themselves to more evocative and titillating attire.

                    Lanvin                                                    Saint Laurent                                    Simone Rochas

But do you need to dare to bare it all to be on trend? Not really. With the summer heat finally upon us wearing shear garments can been seen as natural air conditioning clothing. They are what you want to layer on over a pair of light weight trousers or use to dress up a classic tank top. Casual, chic and totally on trend. Its crystal clear that, in terms of fashion, it doesn’t get much better than transparency.

Jessica Michault

Jessica Michault is the Senior Vice President of industry relations at GPS Radar by Launchmetrics. She is also the editor-at-large for ODDA magazine and contributes to publications like the New York Times, the Business of Fashion, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Mixte magazine.