Bubble silhouettes catch on
Voluminous 'bubble' silhouettes are surfacing across runways and street style and were spotted on stars like Zendaya, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sabrina Carpenter and Rihanna. (x.com). The look—puffed sleeves, roomy trousers and oversized proportions—has strong engagement in social posts tracking the trend. (x.com)
Bubble silhouettes have moved from a niche hemline into a broader shape story, showing up in 2025 runway collections, celebrity dressing and shopping coverage built around “bubble skirts” and “bubble dresses.” (marieclaire.com) By March 2025, Marie Claire was calling for a bigger “bubble skirt boom” and pointing to Spring 2025 collections from Alaïa, Cecilie Bahnsen, Chloé, Jonathan Anderson’s JW Anderson, Ferragamo and Carven. (marieclaire.com) The shape kept spreading after the shows. Fashionista reported on May 1, 2025 that shopping searches for “bubble skirts” and “bubble dresses” were soaring, a sign that the look had moved from runway imagery into retail demand. (fashionista.com) Designers were not all making the same garment. Women’s Wear Daily described Marie Adam-Leenaerdt’s Spring 2025 work as “puffed up proportions,” while its Fall 2025 Phoebe Philo review highlighted oversized proportions and soft sculptural shapes rather than only bubble hems. (wwd.com, wwd.com) That is why “bubble silhouette” now covers more than the early-2000s bubble skirt. In current fashion coverage, the idea includes rounded hems, inflated sleeves, roomy trousers and dresses built to stand away from the body instead of tracing it closely. (wwd.com, wwd.com) Celebrities helped push the shape from trend report to mass recognition. Zendaya wore a custom Louis Vuitton look with a high-low bubble hem to the brand’s Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show in Paris on March 10, 2026. (ellecanada.com) Rihanna gave the trend a different read at the 2025 Met Gala, where Marie Claire reported she wore a Marc Jacobs suit gown with a matching hat and scarf, tying volume to tailoring instead of a party-dress silhouette. (marieclaire.com) Editors have also framed the comeback as part of a longer swing away from the stripped-back look that dominated earlier in the decade. The Impression’s Spring 2025 report described a season of billowing dresses, volume sleeves and “everyday decadence,” while Women’s Wear Daily later said Fall 2025 couture “pumped up the volumes.” (theimpression.com, wwd.com) There is still a narrower version of the story, and it is the easiest one to shop. Fashionista tied the revival directly to bubble skirts and dresses, and Marie Claire noted the shape had already moved from Paris runways into J.Crew stores by early 2025. (fashionista.com, marieclaire.com) The result is a trend with two speeds: a literal bubble hem for shoppers, and a larger appetite for rounded, inflated volume across fashion week and red carpets. That helps explain why the look now reads less like a single dress style and more like a silhouette in its own right. (fashionista.com, wwd.com)
