The String: Back on the story of a underwear synonymous with controversy

Long before becoming an object of everyday life, the String was carrying taboo imaging, which was finally rid of creator Chantal Thomass in the 80s. « Jusque dans les années 80, pour moi le string était complètement réservé à la lingerie érotique»», analyse Pascale Briand, Responsable Style Intimité & Swimwear chez Carlin Créative."There was really a connotation that evoked the slightly sulphurous side, the stripper, the private boxes...Rather products found in sex shops rather than in the Corsetreie collections.The notion of seduction was no longer so up to date.And there was a reaction to this: I think above all of Chantal Thomass who revived naughty lingerie, this notion of wanting to please, seduce.»»

Never frightened by the controversy, Madonna appeared in thong in 1990, during her blonde ambition tour, as shown by this photo, taken that year in Wembley.

In March 1996, Tom Ford prepared the field of chic porn trend with his fall-winter 1996 collection for Gucci.Initially soft, the Gucci style will be more and more sulphurous as the seasons progresses. « La Haute Couture, qui était un peu classique a commencé à prendre des stars, il y a eu Galliano chez Dior et Tom Ford chez Gucci»», se remémore Pascale Briand."And they completely taken against the very chic and elegant principle of sewing, to seize the slightly more subversive codes of eroticism with all this chic chic current.It all made the thong showed.I remember Gucci advertisements with the double G that we saw either in the hollow of the kidneys or on the sides.»»

A few months later, on the other side of the Alps, Jean Paul Gaultier once again gave the beautiful part of the low waist, a recurring element of his locker room, as part of his printemps-and 1997 parade.But that year, it goes further and lets a thong exceed in size.The trend is launched.

Long before the stars of pop, the rapper Lil Kim had already made the thong one of her favorite accessories.Here, she poses with Giorgio Armani at a charity in New York in 1998.

At the height of her glory, Britney Spears is a convinced follower of the thong, which she half reveals under most of her stage outfits."Pop stars: Christina Aguilera, Pink, Britney Spears... étaient vraiment sur des corps qu’on montrait avec des strings, notamment avec le retour du show et des concerts»», continue Pascale Briand."It was really the big show.It was a way of popularizing this product that really came out of the shackles of erotic lingerie.»»

Preuve que le sous-vêtement est désormais passé dans le domaine public, le chanteur Sisqo lui dédie une chanson en 2000, âprement baptisée « Thong Song»».Result ?Four nominations at the Grammy Awards, international awards and a success that has been.

But the early 2000s also saw another form of femininity emerge with a return of burlesque fashion.Lingerie reveals, but it moves away from pure and hard eroticism to offer more worked lines. Sortie en 2001, la reprise du titre de Patti LaBelle « Lady Marmalade»», pour les besoins de la bande originale du film « Moulin Rouge»» joue définitivement sur cette esthétique rétro et remet la guêpière au goût du jour.

The thong is no longer hidden: it even takes the central place in the light.In 2008, Dita von Teese brought the pin-up spirit up to date by tarnish in a giant cointreau glass as well as by parading for Jean Paul Gaultier (still him) and by performing in the whole world in the frameworkof a burlesque show.

In 2018, Rihanna rebats the cards of the genre with the first parade of her lingerie brand Savage x Fenty. « La lingerie en tant que telle n’a pas changée»», analyse encore Pascale Briand."But it is the way of presenting it, of having completely cut with the codes of something a little unattainable and to translate it on a choice of women who are all styles, all kinds, all sizes, all morphologies andAll skins colors...And there there is still the magic of the parade, the music...We are much closer to the projection that we can have lingerie.It was the beginning of inclusiveness in lingerie and even inclusiveness in general.»»

Shunned by the millennials in the mid-10s, the thong nevertheless already returned in 2019 with Hailey Bieber, who is then displayed in a dress signed Alexander Wang, whose deep dorsal neckline is finished by a string ficelle ornate with nameof the American brand.A taste of this return in force which highlights both the back and the fall of the kidneys.A tendency recently also seen at Beyoncé or Kim Kardashian and which should also win this season, as Pascale Briand points out."There are a lot of major necklines in fashion.This time, we may not play the low waist, but rather the dress neckline.We worked a lot on the back of the bra, but for the summer, we may work this neckline.»»

In February, Dion Lee continues his exploration of a ready-to-wear inspired by lingerie and puts the apparent thong in the spotlight.Cutouts, links, trompe-l'oeil...The exercise is anything but basic and testifies to the talent of the Australian designer.

Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2020 Still, Y/Project also presents ultra-chancing sizes, modern revisit of the Bodys of Eighties.A way to breathe new life into this basic, as revealed by Pascale Briand."I find that in the collections for a year, there is a lot this 80s in the 80s on the Bodys.It is also a way of working the thong: it is out of the waist and even if you are not on very low waist, when it happens to the waist, unless you have pantsVery very high, it always exceeds a little.»»

La même année, le clip « WAP»» de Cardi B et Megan Thee Stallion a enfoncé le clou de l’émancipation féminine.A video that has delighted more than one (and crumpled more than one) and notably gave light the standard doubles from which women often suffer from men compared to men.(The duo, interpreting its title here during the Grammy Awards 2021)

For its spring-summer 2021 collection, the Versace house also plays on these revisited codes, by cutting its pants and skirts in order to suggest a piece of hip.A modern revisit and that plays on discreet sensuality, also seen in Tibi.