The Corset Look is Reborn as a Modern Style Statement

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Corsets have been reclaimed most notably by top global fashion icons like Miuccia Prada. Prada showcased it as part of her AW16 collection last year, making corsets the biggest look in the street-style universe this season. It was actually Vivienne Westwood who famously brought corsets to the runway for the first time. And when Madonna wore a Jean-Paul Gaultier designed conical-busted corset during her 1990 Blond Ambition tour, she symbolized female sexual empowerment.

Kim Kardashian was one of the early adopters as she was recently spotted wearing a waist trainer teamed with a puffer jacket and tracksuit bottoms. Now, with wearing a corset or a waist trainer gaining more popularity, the corset fever has now reached the high street, too. The top clothing brands like Asos, Mango, Zara, Finery, and Topshop all are showcasing their corset designs.

Designers aren’t doing the entire whale-boned thing, but corset belts, T-shirts having corsets overlaid, shirts with corset lacing, with the corset bags are very much back in fashion. Garments such as Kitri’s lace-up-sleeve, Rihanna’s Fenty x Puma collection, complete with pink trousers having laced-up slits down the side, add another nod to the corsetry aesthetic.

From Victorians fainting in the tight, uncomfortable corsets – the focus has now been reclaimed as corsets have hit the runway and at the high street fashion stores as a modern fashion statement. The best example of this is Kim Kardashian popularizing the waist trainer look. Regardless of all these modifications, the question still remains – can corset ever be entirely free from its patriarchal trappings?