Business in the front, party in the back.
Fashionistas are leaving little to the imagination in bum-bearing clothing — from backless skirts to peek-a-boo pants.
This month, Phoebe Philo presented “Collection C,” featuring an array of C-suite womenswear such as trousers, blazers and collared shirts.
But among the 35 looks, one took the cake: a backless maxi skirt that masqueraded as corporate chic from the front — and anything butt from the back. The model’s bare derriere was covered only by the tail of the matching blazer.
Philo’s risqué raiment is a high-brow play on an early aughts trend that has seen a revival on the runway and red carpet alike.
At the Vanity Fair Oscars party, Zoë Kravitz donned a black Saint Laurent gown with sheer paneling that revealed a majority of the actress’ butt crack, while Kendall Jenner ascended the iconic stairs at last year’s Met Gala wearing a 1999 archival Givenchy dress with sheer paneling that bared a bit of butt cleavage.
Julia Fox — a longtime proponent of the taboo trend — sported a chainmail dress with a cutout for her derriere at the opening of the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. The author, actress and model was also featured in a sheer number for The Fashion Awards in 2024, wearing a corseted Dilara Findikoglu dress that laced up the back.
Last year, Katy Perry hit the Billboard Women in Music Awards carpet in a cherry-red two-piece set, including a lace-up skirt that gave the paps a peek at her whale tail, and, for the “Dune: Part Two” press tour, Zendaya’s bum was on full display in her archival Thierry Mugler suit.
And this season on the catwalk, “bumster” jeans stole the show.
At Milan Fashion Week, the notoriously subversive Italian label Diesel debuted multiple pairs of the dangerously low-rise denim on models whose cracks were on display for the front row, while Hodakova’s Paris runway also saw the daringly low-waisted cut.
“PLEASE do not make plumber cracks a trend,” one person commented under Vogue’s TikTok coverage of the Diesel designs. “I do not want to live in that world.”
“Low rise jeans: yes. plumber cracks: no,” scoffed another user.
“Why ya’ll using cracks as accessories,” snarked someone else.
Just because the look is everywhere doesn’t mean it will take hold among the masses — at least, not beyond Tinseltown.
“You’d think this is the most obscure garment, which lacks any practicality at all. It’s not exactly easy to do the school pick-up in it,” stylist Alex Longmore told The Telegraph of Philo’s skirt, suggesting that to wear the style in daily life, fashionistas could layer a skirt or pants beneath.
“But this look isn’t meant to be taken literally. Each designer tells a story with their collections — they create drama, which creates headlines.”
And it’s enough to raise a few eyebrows.
“I feel like there’s a return to deliberate undressing,” Sarah Faisal, founder of Baraboux, previously told Vogue Business of the trend.
“It’s something that was a heavy trend in the ’90s with [Alexander] McQueen and Tom Ford at Gucci, picking what we reveal and making that the statement.”
