Runways and red carpets embrace exaggerated female silhouettes

Fashion is increasingly exaggerating the female form on runways and red carpets, the New York Times reports, as designers, medicine and technology converge to remake bodies through clothing, surgery and drugs. The trend has shown up in recent collections and celebrity appearances: Jonathan Anderson’s oversized panniers at Dior, panniers at Christopher John Rogers, cartoon curves by Duran Lantink at Gaultier, and corsetry and pointed hip shapes at Schiaparelli under Daniel Roseberry.

Designers Meruert Tolegen and Dilara Findikoglu, and looks from Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton and Ashi Studio, were cited alongside celebrities including Alba Rohrwacher, Julia Fox, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, members of the Kardashian family, Meghan Trainor, Amy Schumer, Mindy Kaling, Lizzo and Ariana Grande.

Retail and product responses include Skims offering padded hip and visible-nipple bras, and Lyst naming “Wearing the Body” as a defining 2026 trend. Observers link the movement to medical innovations such as GLP-1 drugs (Ozempic and Mounjaro), shifting politics and changing ideals of femininity.

Critics and scholars quoted in the piece — including Valerie Steele, Victoria Pitts-Taylor, Susie Orbach and others — noted that body modification is not new but that technological ease, cultural pressure from mediated images, and a desire for control are accelerating and reshaping expectations.

Key Topics

Culture, Body Modification, Dior, Daniel Roseberry, Skims, Met Gala