The exposed bra: How the Hollywood A-list repositioned this risqué fashion ‘faux pas’ as the trend of the season

If Bella Hadid’s favourite exposed thong was the risqué fashion trend of summer 2022, we’re calling it: summer 2023 is all about the exposed bra.

Don’t believe us? You only need to take the briefest glimpse of recent red carpets to see several of the biggest Hollywood A-listers championing it, with the latest Cannes Film Festival – notoriously one of the strictest dress codes on the calendar – welcoming the look in droves.

The very opposite of a ‘wardrobe malfunction’, there is nothing accidental about this lingerie reveal; instead repositioning the idea that an exposed bra is anything to be embarrassed about. Once seen as the ultimate fashion faux pas, the exposed bra is the latest ‘underwear as outerwear’ trend taking over some of the most talked-about wardrobes in the world.

For once, however, these celebrities are actually – dare we say it – a little late to the look. Usually the first to lap up high-end designer trends within minutes of their runway debuts, it seems that the exposed bra has taken some of Hollywood’s best dressed a few months to get their head around.

Having dominated autumn/winter 2022 runways last year, everyone from Versace to Valentino via Schiaparelli, Philosophy by Lorenzo Serafini and Elie Saab made a case for the exposed bra. Twelve months later, the A-list are finally sold.

One of the trend’s current poster girls is Scarlett Johansson, who wore a custom pink Prada gown with ivory embellished bra detailing to the Cannes Film Festival last month.

Another major name tackling the trend on same much-anticipated red carpet was Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, whose relatively muted spring/summer 2023 Fendi haute couture look was brought to life thanks to a sequinned exposed bra moment.

Joining them on the French Riviera was Sydney Sweeney, who’s took the lingerie-inspired trend to new heights thanks to the sexy silk slip she paired with her exposed cornflower blue bra.

Of course, the trend made a subtle emergence back in 2019 when Katie Holmes broke the Internet with her matching Khaite cardigan and bra moment, but it wasn’t until now that it was so ubiquitous amongst the celebrity crowd that it could truly be considered a trend.

With everyone from Olivia Wilde – whose Gabriela Hearst dress at this year’s Vanity Fair Oscars party boldly exposed her bra – to Zoë Kravitz, Lily James, Zoe Saldana and Nathalie Emmanuel having since taken on the trend, there’s no doubt that it’s got the A-list seal of approval.

Now just to decide whether we dare? Well, if it’s good enough for the red carpet…

For more from Glamour UK’s Fashion Editor Charlie Teather, follow her on Instagram @charlieteather.