It’s not always an easy act to be transparent when you are a movie star.
But famous film fashionistas are doing it through their designer wardrobes, sparking expectations of a ripple-effect.
The trend’s arrival was confirmed with the avalanche of sheer haute couture that engulfed the red carpets and showbiz parties at this week’s Venice Film Festival, where familiar faces were determined to see through the event’s 80th birthday.
Movie director Sofia Coppola led the charge as she debuted her new movie Priscilla, a romantic drama about Elvis Presley’s widow.
The 52-year-old left onlookers all shook up as she teased her shoulders in a caped see-through black Chanel design that stunned as much as her film, about which the real Priscilla Presley said: “Sofia did an amazing job.”
Sydney Sweeney channeled some classic Italian style as she served up a shorter take on the sheer concept when the 25-year-old White Lotus star wore a similar sheer Miu Miu mini dress to the Italian label’s fashion bash.
Meanwhile The Voice Australia’s Rita Ora embraced a modern take on old Hollywood glamour as she turned heads in a Stephane Rolland gown with a tanned bodysuit underneath. The singer, 32, accessorised it with a huge white flower sculptural element on her shoulder.
It wasn’t just actors getting in on the trend, with Sir Mick Jagger’s model daughter Georgia May, 31, revving up the Ferrari premiere in a breath-taking sheer black detailed Pinko gown.
Cheeky British screen star Kate Beckinsale legged it to an event in a similar number, opting for a sparking thigh-high bodysuit underneath. The 50-year-old Pearl Harbour star’s Georges Chakra dress caught the light with golden tassels.
The Crown’s Emma Corin took things in a different direction with a unusual take on sheer fashion. The British non-binary actor, 27, had folks scratching their heads at the Miu Miu party by teaming sheer leggings with office brogues and a green knit cardigan and matching knickers.
Victoria actor Jenna Coleman put a regal twist on the sheer trend, as the 37-year-old dazzled in De Beers and a ravishing black lace vintage Armani gown.
Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, of course, was ahead of the game — even at the age of 89.
He won a standing ovation from the stars at his Armani’s One Night Only runway show inside Venice’s Arsenal complex after a show in which many of the 65 models came out in different forms of sheer chic.
Vogue’s Hannah Jackson spotted the trend resurfacing early this year and said underneath the cheeky look there are political and societal statements to be made.
“For the first time, we seem to be pushing more boundaries with sheerness,” the fashion expert wrote.
“Labels have long sent models’ exposed breasts down the runway, but nowadays celebrities and regular people alike are more inclined to bare it all. Perhaps it’s an act of cultural pushback against the government’s puritanical restrictions on women’s bodies.”
Italian labels like Miu Miu and Valentino — as well as Armani — are leading the charge, trend expert Jessica Richards said.
“Sheers will always be a bold, take-notice material; but one of the critical updates we see in spring/summer 23 is the evolution from celebrating straight-on sexiness to that of ultra-femininity,” she told Marie Claire.