Sexuality in Fashion

It feels to me that Fashion has decided to embrace sexuality, for the time being. "Sexy" has always been an adjective used to describe certain garments, but never in my life have I seen sexuality so blatantly expressed nor accepted by the Fashion world. Even style.com has named lingerie-inspired dressing a key trend for Fall 2009, dubbing it "boudoir crossing". Bondage also found its way into the Fall collections. This may have been clear in my post about Paris Fashion week in the winter, but it seems to be popping up almost everywhere now that Fall is on its way. Some favorite designers of mine to participate in this slight sexual revolution are Marc Jacobs for Louis Viutton, Stefano Pilati for Yves San Laurent, Alexander Wang, and Nicholas Ghesquière for Balenciaga.

Marc Jacobs' collection for Louis Vuitton featured lots of lace, exposed bras, and thigh high leather boots. His first look was a lace blouse, exposing the models breasts. Now, Fashion is no stranger to nudity, but sometimes it can seem prudish.
I loved this look:


At YSL in Paris, Stefano Pilati showed a lot of leather and this little number:

The leather unitard(?) reminds me of a wicked and fashionable Playboy bunny. It's genius.

Alex Wang's clothes are always aggressive and sexy. I think his emergence as one of America's top new designers may have had an effect on his more experienced peers. Lily Donaldson look dashing in this perfectly evocative dress:


Finally, Balenciaga's entire collection was sexy, but in a very lady-like fashion. There were polka-dotted tights, velvet wrap dresses, exposed bras, and loads of satin.
I adore Raquel Zimmerman in this draped pant and jacket. The beautiful bra takes it to a whole nother level.

(all runway photos from style.com)

In addition to SEX walking the catwalk, some female celebrities have been photographed wearing arousing ensembles. Most recently, Rihanna posed for Italian Vogue.

(photo from Vogue Italia via worldofrihanna.ru)
And of course, Lady GaGa has been a diehard patron of sex whether it relates to fashion or not.


(photos from V Magazine via gagadaily.com)
Her interest in bondage wear is nothing new, but she's been appearing in several magazines dressed for the bedroom. And unlike Rihanna, Lady GaGa takes these looks to the streets.

(photo provided by igossip.com)
Rihanna did wear pasties out on the town recently, but GaGa has a leg up on her in terms of wearing underwear as outerwear, among other contraptions as you can see above.

So take heart prudes. This fall, a lovely assortment of sheer, lace, cutouts, and leather will be everywhere!