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By Hannah Militano

Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber Make a Case for Catsuits

Fast becoming one of the hottest trends of the season, the catsuit has made appearances on celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Kylie Jenner and more

With the ability to reveal everything and nothing all at once, the juxtaposition and versatility of the catsuit is what makes the second-skin garment so alluring. From timeless to trendy, the unitard never fails to make a full body statement.

With Hailey Bieber opting for a sleek black velvet Saint Laurent bodysuit for her 25th birthday celebration last night, she joins a slew of A-listers slipping into the singularly form-fitting ensembles. Just this weekend, our favorite scorpio queen SZA slipped into a boldly printed Richard Quinn one piece, effortlessly giving us an avant-garde fashion moment. With designers like Quinn and LaQuan Smith infiltrating celebrity wardrobes, their bold skin-tight designs have been seen on the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy, Kylie Jenner, and Dua Lipa. Though recently, no one has made a case for the catsuit quite like Miss Kim Kardashian. During her Saturday Night Live debut, the beauty mogul donned a plethora of one-piece Balenciaga concoctions by none other than the inimitable creative director Demna Gvasalia.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 10: Kim Kardashian arrives at the afterparty for “Saturday Night Live” on October 10, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC images)

While the catsuit has always been divisive in nature, it has been a party-staple since the original Catwoman slipped into her suit in the 1940s. With Zoë Kravitz reprising the role in 2022’s The Batman, her snug uniform has been pervasive as ever.

Emitting a particular strength, the curve-hugging look has been associated with the trope of the sexually empowered woman. Sometimes considered a femme fatale of sorts, othertimes a full-on dominatrix, the catsuit found its mainstream glory in the midst of the 1960s social movement, the sexual revolution with designs from André Courrèges.

Jerry Hall during a party in Paris – 1976. (Photo by Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 28: BATMAN – “The Funny Feline Felonies” – Season Three – 12/28/67, The Joker (Cesar Romero) and Catwoman (Eartha Kitt, in her second and final appearance as the third Catwoman) were foes of the Dynamic Duo – Batman and Robin. , (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

Taking over the collections of Christian Cowan, Halpern, Prada, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Mugler, Tom Ford, and Marine Serre, the catsuit has proven to stand the test of time. While many of these various iterations are distinctively modern, with avant-garde silhouettes and unexpected cut-outs or bold prints, the garment itself represents the classic catsuit’s reemergence to the style zeitgeist, still as earth-shattering and as jaw-dropping as ever before.