Well, folks, it’s really happening. The pantless trend is in full bloom (or should we say full moon?).
Lately it seems like everybody’s ditching their bottoms. While we’ve been tracking the trend for several months, we really mean it this time when we say it s catching on. Despite a fast-approaching winter, we can’t seem to shake this trend. (I even tried it myself, and I must say, kudos to anyone who’s into it, because it’s certainly not for me.)
It began, at first with the usual suspects: Kylie Jenner attended the Loewe show in tighty-whities over black tights; Hailey Bieber went out for dinner in a floor-grazing coat and high-waisted black briefs; Bella Hadid strolled down the street in white undies and mini Uggs; and Kendall Jenner forgoing pants at any chance she gets. At the trend’s modern genesis in 2022, it seemed like it was a trend just for those whose job it is to wear conversation-starting outfits. After all, Kylie Jenner once said that when she needs a boost of confidence she likes to wear low-rise pants—a breathtakingly unrelatable statement. But, lo, the pantless trend has proliferated, transcending the runway and appearing everywhere from the red carpet to streets.
Despite its modern roots among the Kar-Jenners and Co., the trend can be traced back to the 1950s, starting off as a form of dancewear, and lasting through the mod era. Many dancers wore leotards over their tights in order to create an elongated, more elegant line. But sometimes, they would layer with shirts or sweaters, oftentimes belted to help clarify their waistlines. “Cyd Charisse and some of the Old Hollywood vixens and ingenue used to dance in things like that,” says image architect Law Roach. The look has become particularly associated with Edie Sedgwick, the socialite and Andy Warhol muse. In one especially memorable photograph, Sedgwick balances on a leather rhinoceros, her black stocking-clad leg extended into an arabesque, a T-shirt covering her leotard, save for the bottom.
The look picked back up—again in an exercise capacity—in the 1980s with the aerobics craze. Between Jane Fonda’s workout wear and Jamie Lee Curtis’s electric chemistry with John Travolta in 1985’s Perfect, high-cut leotards with belts were all the rage in the athletic scene. In the ’90s, the no-pants look appeared several times on the Chanel runway, as well as Alexander McQueen and Jean Paul Gaultier. And through the early aughts, Christian Dior and Miu Miu took up the mantle as well.
But the pantless trend didn’t move away from the athletic associations until fairly recently. In 2022, Kendall Jenner stepped out in a look from Bottega Veneta’s spring 2023 collection—a navy blue knit sweater with white cuffs, black briefs over sheer black tights, and a pair of black slingback heels. Bottega wasn’t the only one to send the look down the runway: Valentino couture, Victoria Beckham, and Raf Simons all employed pantlessness in their collections. For fall 2023, Maison Margiela and LaQuan Smith manufactured such styles, as did Miu Miu, who made a splash with their controversial embellished panties, worn by Emma Corrin, among others. (The actor and fashion plate quickly adopted the trend, wearing Miu Miu’s take to the Venice Film Festival as well as to the premiere of My Policeman.)
Since then, the trend has only gained more fans. Adwoa Aboah, Cara Delevingne, and Jodie Turner-Smith all took the look for a spin at Vogue World: London in September 2023. Lori Harvey broke out the undies for a party, while Law Roach wore Calvin Klein briefs over fishnet tights with his Luar look at the CFDA Awards. Even Taylor Swift offered her take on the pantless look.
While the look seemed to simmer on the fall 2024 runway, celebrities are still wearing it in full force. On her Love Lies Bleeding press tour, Kristen Stewart rocked multiple pantless looks, from a high-cut bodysuit that mimicked a wrestling singlet, to a pair of knit Brunello Cucinelli hot shorts. During Paris Fashion Week, Sydney Sweeney sat front row at Miu Miu in a pair of the brand’s embellished panties, and Emily Ratajkowski took the look for a spin between shows.
Celebrity stylist Amanda Lim agrees that the look is recycling old trends. “I love the confidence and power a good elevated pantless look projects. I think that as people continue to connect globally—thank you, tech boom—and elevate each other that this look provides a safe space to take control of your image, empower yourself, and hopefully inspire your fashion peers to do the same,” she says. “After all, trends are born of repetitive imitation and isn’t that the highest form of flattery?”
Roach, who personally tried out the trend at the CFDAs, thinks that the look carries inherent cultural significance. He also thinks that the look is a way to put a new spin on something loaded with symbolism. “I think there’s something very traditional, and also very relevant of about a pair of Calvin Klein tighty-whities.” However, he admits that he would not have worn the look until very recently. “I think 10 months ago, 11 months ago, I would have never done anything like that. I was in a place where I was, ‘What will my clients think if I wore this?’ or whatever,” he says. Roach created a backstory for the look, deciding it was what was under the Luar look, which was sent down the runway buttoned up. “I just want to feel free, and I felt free.”
Listen to Vogue editors talk more about the year in fashion trends on this episode of The Run-Through here.
