The Latest Controversial Micro Trend: "Exposed Waistbands"

25 Sep The Latest Controversial Micro Trend: “Exposed Waistbands”

Posted at 11:00h in Fashion by Loading Potential 0 Comments

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As mentioned in our SS 2023 Fashion Trend Predictions, underwear as outerwear has been popular these last few seasons. For starters, dark romantic aesthetics such as black sheer fabrics, lace trimmings, and peek-a-boo brassieres have been spotted all over the runways ranging from Simon Rocha to Ferragamo to Acne Studios. We also seen the return of the ‘whale tail’ from the resurgence of Mcbling and Y2K aesthetics last year. More recently, we’ve seen less of the ‘whale tail’ and more boxer waists, less bra sightings and more bra-trimmings. It’s without a doubt waistbands are having a major moment in fashion, yes to some this may seem like a fun and cheeky trend to take part in but we must ask ourselves is this really a “trend” as we presume it to be? BIPOC (mainly African American) communities have been exposing their waistbands since the early 90’s and have suffered immense violence and criminalization. This act of wearing pants or trousers below the waist in order to expose the band of the boxer is known as “sagging”, a popular way of dressing in the 90’s popularized by African American teens. The style bled into mainstream media via hop hop music videos with artists like Kriss Kross making it fashionable. Streetwear brands like Karl Kani played a major role popularizing the sagging impact.

Unfortunately, the origins of sagging being linked with the prison system dress code tied itself to systemic racism, criminalization, appropriation and respectability politics which then led to anti-sagging laws all over the US. With that said what role do major fashion houses like Prada, Balenciaga, Jacquemus and others play in this conversation? Is wearing a pair of Balanciaga Trompe-L’Oeil Sweatpants exempt individuals from these laws? The answer of course is no, nonetheless it does give consumers food for thought: capitalizing on the very culture of people who are criminalized in everyday life for the same look is not a fun fantasy, it’s a dark unjust reality. In today’s market, designs have adopted a tailored and more refined approach to sagging, still It is important to give credit, understand the inspiration and references behind some of our current favourite trends.