Alexa Chung posted a photograph of herself in a New York dive bar wearing a white Versace skirt printed with a face, a green cardigan and black pumps, and the internet made its decision overnight. She had already been wearing the idea for a while, having stepped out previously in a version bearing Tilda Swinton‘s portrait. What began as a niche pleasure among people who read exhibition catalogues for fun has become the summer’s most persuasive silhouette, and it shows every sign of surviving into autumn under a heavier knit.

Warhol, Versace, and a Print With a Memory

The trend owes its current momentum to Dario Vitale‘s first and only collection for Versace, where he reworked Andy Warhol‘s silkscreen portraits into printed silk. The gesture carries its own genealogy, since Gianni Versace had already built his spring 1991 collection around those same Warhol faces, turning Marilyn and Marlene into evening wear. Wearing one now means carrying two decades of fashion history on your hips at once, which is a considerable amount of subtext for a skirt.

Chanel has approached the idea from another direction entirely, with Matthieu Blazy recreating the poster of the 1931 film Tonight or Never for the Métiers d’art collection, a reference to Gabrielle Chanel’s own work designing costumes for the screen. Prada offers a version drawn from the illustrations of Robert McGinnis, the artist behind the posters for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and several Bond films.

How to Wear a Portrait Without Looking Like a Gift Shop

The styling rule stays reassuringly plain. Let the skirt hold every ounce of the drama and keep the rest quiet, which is precisely what Chung demonstrated with a plain cardigan and a flat black shoe. A fine knit, a crisp poplin shirt or a slim tank all work, provided the color stays out of the print’s way. The London label Hades offers the most literal entry point with that Tilda Swinton skirt, a nod to her performance in Orlando that will delight anyone who has read Virginia Woolf. The best versions, though, remain the personal ones. A face you love, a director you admire, a photograph that means something only to you. Quiet luxury asked everyone to disappear expensively, and this trend suggests the opposite arrangement.