Normally when I write the words "Bella Hadid" and "sheer trend" in a sentence, it's to commend the model for taking a major fashion swing. Today is different: Bella Hadid tracked down an off-the-shoulder top that somehow makes the never-ending naked trend feel wearable during daytime hours.
In its past lives, tinted and translucent fabrics have been reserved for red carpet photo ops and late night parties—on account of their irreverent, revealing nature. Celebrities from Zoë Kravitz to Dakota Johnson have selectively deployed a see-through garment to shock and awe; Florence Pugh's naked dress collection has carried her through at least three full press cycles. Hadid herself most recently wore a nearly-naked jumpsuit to a YSL party at Paris Fashion Week, after walking the runway in a naked lace dress. Sensing a theme yet?
That precedent disappeared for Hadid's walk from the Mercer Hotel in New York City on April 28. The Orêbella fragrance founder picked a top from the British label Me+Em, cut in a clingy jersey fabric with an adjustable, off-the-shoulder neckline. Hadid situated it asymmetrically, with one shoulder slightly more covered than the other and absolutely nothing underneath.
The collarbone-skimming cut alone was enough to make Hadid's sheer top feel more elegant than most. But it's her styling that transformed the fashion trend I thought I knew into something different.
Hadid tucked her off-the-shoulder shirt into a pair of loose-fitting jeans with holes at the knees and secured it with a studded Kate Cate Farah belt. Then, she picked up her signature leather bomber jacket (Saint Laurent, I'm guessing) and a pair of vintage Chanel sunglasses. Each piece had a different texture and a touch of chocolate brown to complement her shirt. The final addition of chocolate brown slingback heels made Hadid's point for her: Sheer tops can and do work in day light with more work-oriented accessories. It's all about balance.
Past team-ups between Bella Hadid and the sheer trend have been in service of asserting its red carpet authority. The star plucked a completely nude, pantyhose-like dress from Saint Laurent's Fall 2024 runway for the Cannes red carpet last year. Before that, she famously had a Coperni dress spray-painted onto her body during a Paris Fashion Week show. On all those occasions (and others), her dresses have accompanied tiny stiletto heels fit for walking a runway, plus an overall aura that says the sheer trend is meant for these high risk, high reward settings.
Bella Hadid's April 28 outfit says the sheer trend actually has legs off the step-and-repeat, too—when it's grounded in the right color story and set in an elegant silhouette like an off-the-shoulder top. If you're still not ready to take the see-through plunge, never fear: tops that have the same cut but more opaque fabric are just ahead. And for the exposure-shy, I suspect the model's outfit would look just as chic with a bra underneath.
