After a season that has flitted between moments of elation (Saint Laurent, Celine, Chanel) and existential sighs about the lack of big ideas (best not to name names), one garment has stood out for its swaggering ggadocio. What does it say about the state of fashion that bras – from soft starter styles to balconettes, bustiers and bandeaus – have replaced tops for spring/summer 2027? Can someone who is not Gigi Hadid actually wear a sporty racerback crop top to go from a matcha stop to a meeting? Let’s get the measure of the brands pushing the foundational undergarment up the fashion agenda.

Miuccia Prada, who has stripped models down to their underpinnings since the mid ’90s at Miu Miu, doubled down on déshabillé at Prada, pairing over a third of her 63 skirts with bralettes that got more itty bitty as the Clara 3000 soundtrack shuddered on. By the time the Miu Miu show rolled around a week later, press were so used to seeing bras in place of tops that her sporty, crystal-swathed versions had become “casual, everyday”, she told Sarah Mower.

Jean Paul Gaultier SS27.

Photographed by Acielle / StyleDuMonde

Balmain SS27.

But if Mrs Prada is a key progenitor of the bra as a legitimate piece of apparel (one that costs upwards of £600), the decidedly upront trend bounced into view back in London, with Simone Rocha’s pretty-tough collection of undone slips, KNWLS’s unravelling negligées, Erdem’s show-girl balconettes, A Letter’s soft floral demi cups, and Goyagoma’s barely-there clip ons. Even M&S, which supports the majority of the UK, got in on the action. But for anyone unable to compute seeing a pair of 36Ds (the average great British bra size) on the commute, the stream of 32Bs (the average model bra size) strutting down catwalks did little to persuade them to bare their chests next season.

Courrèges SS27.

Photographed by Acielle / StyleDuMonde

Prada SS27.

Because, let’s be honest, runway bras are not normal bras. In Paris, Duran Lantink continued to put his stamp on Jean Paul Gaultier’s wacky allure with horn bras that no ordinary breast could squeeze into; Haider Ackermann’s sexually-charged underwired satin cups sat flat against women’s skin at Tom Ford; and Alessandro Michele’s Valentino halter bras, fashioned from jewel-toned silks, were the opposite of plunging. (Every non-sample size model was, of course, swaddled in a coat.) During a season underscored by the importance of retail – with designer soundbites ranging from “reality” to “grounded” and “growth” – it felt odd that an undergarment so rooted in the real world had been warped into a fashion plaything.

Simone Rocha SS27.

Hermès SS27.

It all goes back to the celebrity-driven phenomenon that is naked dressing. As long as the world’s ultimate influencers, from Dakota Johnson to the Kardashian-Jenners, continue to put tantalisingly sheer fashion in the spotlight, designers will respond accordingly. The best a mere mortal can do is strip the underwear-as-outerwear trend back to its most demure origins: a whisper of a plain black bra visible from beneath a killer suit; a ’40s lace-trimmed style worn underneath a semi-sheer dress; or a Y2K-esque strap peeping out from a vest. It’s not about undressing, but being bold enough to keep them guessing.

Dior SS27.

Photographed by Acielle / StyleDuMonde

Chanel SS27.