Designers Are Embracing Nudity in an Encouraging New Light
by Ashley Hoffman 
Megan Gale Is An Australian Model Fashion Designer And Actress
North West may have been weeping for all the sad children of the world at Alexander Wang, but no one was snoring. It’s obvious that the nakedest Alexander Wang look wasn’t about trying to seduce anyone with vulnerability. This was hard-edged. Shooting for androgyny, he arrived at an even more welcome alternative: power underdressing.
This model didn’t just look like she was going somewhere. She was ready for the kind of battle you fight with a ‘tude. Her body, lined as it was with a delicate kind of chain mail, looked indestructible. Wang played with guarding her bits and inviting you in at the same time. The gladiator belt anchored the darts that only half-concealed her nipples, and in it, she epitomized strength. When the sticky summer comes around, this could actually sell. You could wear it over one of his H&M sports bras and call it acceptable.
Clothes are supposed to be self-protective armor. But even for people who fit smaller sizes, it feels like they function to tell women that they don’t fit ideals of female beauty. A model recently told us that she stopped modeling for fashion and became a nude model because clothes hurt her self-esteem when they didn’t fit. Believe it or not, for the naked person, showing your body isn’t a sexual invitation either. Even if it means people might still assume you want to get with everybody, or worse, you’re vulgar, it can just be natural. If you can’t avert an objectifying gaze in a naked dress, you can at least free yourself from fashion’s semi-permanent standards of beauty. That is, if someone would show a revealing dress that fit everyone.
Celebrating nudity becomes even more problematic than showing cardigans on thin models. Naked dresses exclude countless women from seeing themselves in the clothes. Interestingly, the Marc Jacobs show presented a more universal nudity look. He showed a model loosely wrapped in a liquid black film overlay. There was no unforgiving indentation at the waist. The way it hung on her, this could easily showcase a fuller figure.
Of course, the person underneath didn’t look like the splashier types of models Chromat might cast. But the belt was adjustable, and with a little more give at the top, women you know with different cup sizes could have worn it. It wasn’t the design masterclass that is the complicated criss-crossing of cut-outs and boob-cupping inventions. It was a fluid nightie. So designers still have to give us form-fitting naked dresses for more sizes.
Maybe it helps a show score buzz, but it’s a good sign that designers are pushing more comfort with female beauty. It’s not about winking at anyone. It’s more of a stare. It’s a sign that spring will drive designers to feel even freer to continue doing naked clothes in more interesting ways. But it’s a tad chilly for all this right now.
Anja Rubik nude in Purple Fashion
Bai Ling Boobshow