From pinning up a sari to fastening your shirt when a button breaks, safety pins come to your rescue with any wardrobe malfunction you face. Off late though, fashion designers are incorporating this handy tool into clothing and accessories. Take Versace’s Milan Fashion Week SS22 collection for instance, which featured safety pins in almost every piece.
But if one were to trace the history, Versace originally popularised the OG safety pin dress. Throwing it back to 1994, the dress was modelled by Helena Christensen in Versace’s Spring/Summer runway show. That same year, Elizabeth Hurley rose to fame as she donned the black Versace dress held together with gold safety pins at the premiere of her then boyfriend Hugh Grant’s film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Later, Lady Gaga wore it in 2012, and Donatella Versace gave the original one its own spin with an asymmetrical black dress and others for the pre-fall 2019 collection. Dua Lipa also gave Elizabeth’s gown a 2019 reboot at the Grammy Awards.
Fast forward to 2021, and safety pins are only getting cooler on and off the runway! Here’s a look at how the trend has progressed.
As A Statement-Making Detail
Donatella Versace infused energy with the addition of colourful safety pins at MFW22. Whether it was used as a fastener, a design element in stilettos, or as is in earrings and necklaces, safety pins grabbed our attention. Models like Dua Lipa, Gigi Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, Naomi Campbell among other strutted the runway donning this decorative accessory in their clothes.
Gigi Hadid made heads turn at the Savage x Fenty show premiere in a Versace pantsuit. The blazer was left open but fastened towards the end with an oversized gold pin.
The Curtain Reveal
French designer Jacquemus borrowed inspiration from the safety pin design to create pin/paperclip tops or ‘the curtain reveal’ tops–a massive runway hit with Kendall Jenner walking the ramp in two colours for his Fall/Winter 2021 showcase.
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Meghan Fox, Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber also took this top off the runway and gave it their own spin! Scroll through for some style inspo:
Prior to his show, this risqué trend was also donned by models Kaia Gerber and Emily Ratajkowski, who styled their pin tops with high waist pants.
DIY Fix
Closer to home, Katrina Kaif and Ananya Panday take the metallic paper clip out of their stationary stash and give their cardigans a DIY upgrade with the unusual fastener. But hey, isn’t this a fun way to up the ante of your look for the upcoming winter season?
Photographs: Instagram and Pinterest
