Are It Bras the New It Bags for Spring 2020?

It all started with Katie Holmes hailing a cab. To summarize (because it’s certainly been analyzed enough since it happened during the last week of August) the actor was spotted wearing a cashmere bra and matching cardigan by Khaite that immediately went viral. The bra was the kicker—a $520 piece of effortless, painfully cool lingerie that sold out within hours of the photo making the rounds online. Post-Holmes, exposed bras have also been making statements throughout the entirety of fashion month. Street stylers have been spotted wearing sleek, simple bras with high-waist skirts and trousers, and the Hadid sisters, who have long been fans of wearing their underthings on the outside, have sported bras with blazers and layered over tanks. On the runways, the bra has become a staple item in many of the top collections, from the bejeweled pieces at Tom Ford and Dior to the more traditional designs worn freely underneath unbuttoned dresses at Chloé and with a pretty, lacy skirt and boots at Loewe.

The former Dawson’s Creek star and her style rebirth aside, it is curious that bras seem to be the most-coveted items for the Spring 2020 season, especially considering the fact that thus far during fashion month, there’s yet to be a standout bag or shoe that everyone is vying for. The idea of an It bag, and possibly an It shoe, has been waning in popularity for some time now. Novelty is king in this arena: giant platform Crocs, minuscule top handles that fit nothing, and, as was the case yesterday, the release of Virgil Abloh’s newest Off-White bag, which was designed to be “intentionally unfunctional,” due to the fact that it comes with several large holes cut through the middle.

That being said, there are heritage brands crafting gorgeous carryalls and footwear that are meant to be invested in, but at a time when It bags and It shoes are becoming slightly obsolete in the grand scheme of things, is the designer bra the penultimate wardrobe item for next season? The trend, though nothing at all new in fashion, also speaks to a certain kind of highly empowered woman right now, one who will wear a black lace balconette under a tailored blazer, à la Gigi Hadid, and head to a meeting. Whoever is lusting after these new designer bras—be she America’s sweetheart who got chic-a-fied or the stylish fashion devotee looking to up the ante on her executive realness—has a lot to choose from. There may be an alluring bag or shoe here and there, but this season, the most seductive, singular accessory is the designer bra worn with pride while hailing a cab, running to and from shows, or walking a runway.