By Amaia Odriozola
Between whipped lemonade recipes, beauty hacks and obsessions like pastoral fashion (the famous cottagecore), there is a corner of TikTok dedicated to a single dress. Created by SKIMS, the "luxury loungewear" brand founded by Kim Kardashian ("elevated loungewear," her label), it has already garnered over 110 million views on the social network, multiple sell-outs, and a impressive waiting list of 46,000 people, causing an exceptional state of shock and amazement.
The garment in question is an ankle-length dress, hyperelastic and fitted to the body, with a straight neckline and two very thin straps. It costs 93 euros, is available in eight sizes (ranging from XXS to 3X) and seven colors (including taupe, black and sky blue) and is called the Soft Lounge Long Slip Dress. It has a minimalist aesthetic that makes it work as a blank canvas for any style, as can be seen in the countless videos posted by its clients. Although each one wears it in her own way (combined with oversized blazers, high-heeled sandals, chunky sneakers, outfits for the night or to lie on the sofa), most repeat the same pose: facing the camera, turning to one profile, turn to the other and hands on the waist. It is obvious that it is comfortable and there seems to be a consensus around the dress: no matter the size or the occasion, whoever buys it shares its satisfaction with the world. The virality that it is reaching means that whether you are in the app or not, it is difficult not to come across one of these videos on Twitter, Instagram and even in magazines such as Bustle, Refinery29 or Vogue USA. Beyond comfort, why does this dress and not another have so much hype?
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To begin with, there is no denying the intensity with which the fashion of the nineties has infiltrated all layers of fashion in recent seasons, with brands playing different roles to renew some of its most representative codes. One of them is, precisely, the spaghetti straps that this dress recovers, and that has countless references in the fashion of those years. There is the first success of this dress: in reviving nostalgia. It is to think of these very thin straps and go back to the polished minimalism that gained strength as the decade progressed. The Calvin Klein fashion shows, the wedding dress that Narciso Rodríguez made for Carolyn Bessette. Kate Moss at the MET Gala in the year 90, wearing a pale yellow dress. Winona Ryder, Sofia Coppola. Gwyneth Paltrow, braless, wore them even on the red carpet. Sarah Jessica Parker's look at the height of the Sex and the City boom, at the VH1 awards in 1997. Even in a sexy key: backstage at the legendary 'Diamonds are Forever' show that Donatella Versace did in 1999, with Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Amber Valetta in little spaghetti strap dresses, or Tom Ford's supersexual collection at Gucci in the spring of '98.
While the 1980s had been all about volume - padded shoulders, puffy jackets, long hair and an obsession with oversized logos - the look that shaped the 1990s was decidedly understated and the slip dress, with its spaghetti straps Like the famous Italian pasta and converted into one of the most enduring garments of that fashion, it is perhaps the most obvious example. If it has arrived with such effusiveness until today, it is because it allows infinite styles: it can be timeless and elegant, or it can be the opposite, depending on the accessories that accompany it. This makes it a tremendously versatile garment that is easy to incorporate into any wardrobe.
It is evident that Kim Kardashian has been able to connect this aesthetic longing, but if this dress is a success, it is also due to something else: she has been able to present it on the platform that is causing a domino effect in fashion. Through its short videos, TikTok has managed to revive forgotten nineties brands such as Juicy Couture (the famous colored velvet tracksuits) or Von Dutch (those caps that were worn in Los Angeles) and Kardashian has taken note of what happens : When a garment goes "viral" on TikTok, sales quickly follow this popularity. That the social network is a catalyst for success is something that brands such as Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Jacquemus, Balmain or Gucci already know, which already broadcast their fashion shows on TikTok. Also relevant designers such as Olivier Rousteing (Balmain designer, who uploads videos from his office) or JW Anderson (at the head of Loewe, he has even published a tutorial to make the patchwork cardigan worn by Harry Styles at home). In the other direction, the stars of TikTok began to access the world of fashion when in 2019 Noen Eubanks became the face of Celine. Then it was Prada who invited Charli D'Amelio to her show, and Wisdon Kaye, considered the best dresser on the social network, has already signed with one of the world's great modeling agencies, IMG Models. The rest of the pieces keep moving one after another.
