When a molded bustier in chromed acrylic, worn by stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya and Zoë Kravitz, makes the headlines, there is no doubt that fashion tech is now in vogue. Before Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent and Issey Miyake had already succeeded at this glam tech exercise.

By Ludmilla Intravaia 

“The most desirable piece of 2020”, “Viral fashion hit of 2020”, “A strong contender for fashion item of the year”… the press is unanimous : the so Sci-Fi bustier by Tom Ford, presented in New York fashion week, last September (see photo below), is already the iconic accessory of the Spring -Summer 2020 season.

First, the fashion tech bustier makes the front page of Harper’s Bazaar magazine in February, starring American actress Gwyneth Paltrow (see photo below).

The American actress Zoë Kravitz wears it in the pages of Elle USA magazine the same month (see photo below).

The American actress Zendaya was seen on the Critics Choice Awards red carpet, this January 12, in Los Angeles, in a version of the breastplate, shaped to her measurements (see photo below). “I saw it on the runway and thought it was sick and amazing because they were actually able to scan and mold my own body so it fits me the right way, so it's pretty cool", Zendaya explained to the americain website Entertainment Tonight, on the night of the event : "It was very science tech situation going on, so it was very one-of-a-kind.”

A made-to-measure breastplate that customers will soon be able to buy in the brand's boutiques, a Tom ford’s representative told three days later to the American website Page Six. The “process takes around a month and begins, as Zendaya’s did, with a 3D scan of the client’s torso”, reports the website : “From that scan, a three-dimensional form is created that shares the shopper’s exact measurements, which the Tom Ford team uses to fit the acrylic bustier. After the breastplate is cut and sanded, it undergoes a chroming process that stabilizes the shape and provides a base for the color, which is applied in multiple layers to achieve the client’s desired shade.” The placement of satin straps and a leather lining completes the follow-up fitting.

During Tom Ford SS20 show, different versions of the breastplate were presented, to be discovered in the video below.

As Vogue magazine pointed out, the next day, "the molded plastic tops were a luscious homage to Yves Saint Laurent’s Lalanne breastplates via Issey Miyake". Indeed, the French sculptor Claude Lalanne made belly and bust molds for two silhouettes from the Fall-Winter 1969 collection of the French couturier (see photo below - more info in this Vogue paper, here).

Similarly, the finale of the Japanese designer Issey Miyake's 1980-1981 Fall-Winter collection included molded bustiers on feminine shapes (see photos below © Issey Miyake).

Tom Ford had already delivered his vision of the molded bustier, for Yves Saint Laurent Spring-Summer 2001 ready-to-wear collection (see video below). But that one was made of leather…

* Continue reading on fashion tech in SS20 with these Boudoir Numérique papers : 

- “Versace SS20 : J.LO, fashion tech goddess”

- “Glam tech recap from SS20 fashion weeks”