Bloomers, Boy Shorts and Hot Pants Are All the Rage for SS25
The Spring/Summer 2025 season of fashion month kicked off with Copenhagen Fashion Week and as always, new and evolving fashion trends continue to emerge. For Spring/Summer 2024, we explored the rise of the underwear as outerwear trend, spotted through the likes of Natasha Zinko, GCDS and SRVC and now, we're seeing a familiar pattern make its way back onto the runways for SS25.
The underwear as outerwear trend stemmed from an ongoing aesthetic cocktail of Y2K nostalgia, sheer fabrics and panties brimming out of trousers, beginning with visible underwear layered under unbuttoned trousers and evolving into a complete removal of pants altogether.
Now, the trend appears to have adopted a more elevated form, evolving into styles like bloomers and hot pants, inching ever so slightly forward in length. In Copenhagen, we saw designers like ROTATE showcase ruffled bloomers, while Sinead O'Dwyer debuted co-ordinating denim pants and vests, along with Baum und Pferdgarten parading mini knitted shorts down their collegiate-inspired runway.
Ahead, we revisit examples past and present of the ever-evolving pants trend.
Spring/Summer 2025
Sinead O'Dwyer
Sinead O'Dwyer showcased a slew of pant-inspired styles for SS25, featuring matching fabrics across vests, open dresses and sleeveless jackets. This seemingly takes the trend into a more formal direction, utilizing more structured materials in order to make it less pant-like, and more like a fully-fledged outfit.
Baum und Pferdgarten
Similarly, Baum und Pferdgarten also displayed a more formal take on the trend, presenting co-ordinating tops and bottoms in the same prints and fabric. Their version of hot pants featured a slightly longer length, adopting a similar style to boy shorts and boxers.
ROTATE
ROTATE's interpretation featured high-waisted pants in formal materials like satin and lace, offering a more intentional way to wear the trend. Following a more bloomer-style silhouette with ruffles and ruching, the pants take on a dressier approach and seemingly fit in pretty well with ROTATE's party-girl aesthetic.
Operasport
Operasport's SS25 collection featured fewer pant-led styles, with their version of the trend appearing in the form of co-ordinating swimwear styles and bodysuits laid under silky shirts. Fusing the pants with elevated materials added to the formality of the look, suggesting a shift from more casual ways of wearing the trend.
A Roege Hove
A Roege Hove is known for its distinctive materials, pleated styles and sheer fabrics. Its version of the trend follows the typical pant silhouette in co-ordinating colors, presenting a slightly lighter fabric.
Spring/Summer 2024
Natasha Zinko
If the underwear as outerwear trend said "Jump," Natasha Zinko said, "How High?" In its SS24 showcase dubbed "Camp," the London-based brand unveiled its collection to the backdrop of the great outdoors. Models hurried down the grassy runway in pillows as shirts, camouflage uniforms and single-arm leotards. The standout piece in the collection, however, was a skirt styled out of five pairs of white underwear paired with knee-high tights and kitten heels.
SRVC
Newcomer to the London Fashion Week circuit, SRVC debuted its recent collection inspired by a dystopian beachscape. Presenting garments ranging from hoodies to big-toe-only socks, the brand's unique take on vacation dressing grabbed the attention of show guests and fashion enthusiasts alike. For SS24, SRVC presented a range of underwear as outerwear options in the form of comfy cotton.
GCDS
It was only a matter of time before GCDS, the brand known for blending playful and provocative, tapped into the underwear as outerwear trend. With past collections including SpongeBob SquarePants dresses and bedazzled kitty purses, the Italian label never shies away from the unexpected. For its rendition of the seasonal staple, GCDS offers underwear in both denim and sweatpant materials, styling them with trench coats, sheer tanks and stilettos, obviously.
Miu Miu
As one of the pioneers in shortening pants to micro heights, Miu Miu is yet to miss in the underwear department. For SS24, the brand swapped its traditional muted hues and mini skirts for neon, speedo-like bottoms. As for styling, Miu Miu chose to pair the fluorescent underwear with layering up top ranging from black suit jackets, and yellow bombers to classic collared shirts.
Cormio
At Milan Fashion Week, Cormio satirically shared in its press notes "If she looks hot, You know like, studded belts, a lot of pink, all-over leopard print, lurex knits, fishnet dresses, skimpy one shoulder tops, or even worse, bikinis! Then you’ll know She's a Jezabelle!" The brand flipped a middle finger at the male gaze and double crossed the patriarchy with garments from and for all women. The collection included underwear as pants in a range of Y2K graphics from blue and white polka-dots to bedazzled boxer briefs.
Ottolinger
Though SS24 wasn't Ottolinger's first experiment with underwear as trousers, the brand returned to Paris Fashion Week with a range of new styles. From high waisted, sorbet hued underwear to classic black briefs, the brand firmly cemented its intention for the trend to be a ready-to-wear staple. Extra points goes to the house of Ottolinger for layering its underwear with thick orange belts.
Chet Lo and Jawara
At LFW, Chet Lo and Jawara separately proved underwear as outerwear is not solely for womenswear. Chet Lo presented its classic spiked fabric as a jet-black thong in a binary-breaking rendition of the trend. Meanwhile, Jawara took a sexy lifeguard approach offering bright red underwear paired with low-sitting belts and latex vests.
