Belly Button Cut-Outs Are The Biggest Trend Of Fashion Week

If you’ve been on the internet anytime during the last month, showing skin is this fashion season’s trend du jour. Dua Lipa’s exposed thong, Florence Pugh’s see-through skirt, and Dakota Johnson’s nipple-baring ‘fit — ring any bells? (If not, you might want to check your algorithm.)

The fashion industry, creative powerhouse that it is, has found yet another unassuming body part to highlight: the belly button. And whether you’re ready for peek-a-boo navels or not, fashion week’s newest trend has arrived — there’s no denying it.

Julia Fox, style herald and trendsetter, is trailblazing the new style. She was spotted in Paris, covered fully in a see-through Courrèges gown complete with an itty-bitty belly hole just wide enough to flash her designer navel ring (the unofficial piercing of fashion month). This one ensemble alone sky-rocketed the trend overnight.

At the same time, street style veterans from New York to Milan were wearing iterations of the navel-baring look. Iterations have included massive solo cut-outs that hit just below the belly button, multiple slatted openings on the torso, and teeny tiny pin-pricks à la Fox.

Of course, the flesh-bearing panels are still accentuated with typical fashion-y design details that dazzle and delight (sequins, velvet, and starched collars, among others).

Designers also sent models down Fall 2023 runways in navel-focused designs. Dundas went for subtlety, with just a sliver of skin peeking, while Germanier kept it whimsical, lining the belly cut-out with a wreath of textured balls. Meanwhile, designers like LaQuan Smith and Ann Demeulemeester kept their dresses saucy, with massive cut-outs that exposed a majority of the models’ torso.

Yep, fashion is officially in its belly button era.