Ding! The blooming trend: The Intimate Turn

Intimate wear is moving into the visible wardrobe, as lingerie, exposed layers and Y2K references redefine comfort, individuality and style

Sep 16, 2026

Trend: The Intimate Turn

Prediction: +35% popularity over the next 12 months

Intimate wear has traditionally been designed around disappearance. Its value lay in what happened underneath an outfit: support, coverage, fit and comfort, with fashion beginning only once it was concealed. That boundary is becoming less stable. Intimates are moving outward into the visible wardrobe, and details once meant to remain private—a bra line, a boxer waistband, a lace edge, a camisole or a bodysuit—are increasingly becoming part of how an outfit is constructed.

The shift is being driven by a new overlap between comfort and sensuality. Expectations built around soft cotton, stretch, second-skin fits and everyday wearability have raised the baseline for what underwear needs to feel like, while the return of Y2K references is giving it permission to become expressive again.

The Alt Girl aesthetic on Pinterest and TikTok is, for instance, gaining traction, combining soft rebellion with elements of goth, Y2K and lingerie to create a form of algorithm-era self-expression. Low-rise silhouettes, exposed straps, babydoll shapes, colour and lace reintroduce flirtation without requiring the formality traditionally associated with lingerie.

A waistband becomes a styling detail, a bra becomes a layer, and a camisole can function as the outfit itself. The category is beginning to borrow the logic of ready-to-wear: colour, silhouette and recognisability matter alongside fit and fabrication, giving consumers more reason to build an intimates wardrobe rather than simply replenish it.

As this develops, the opportunity shifts from designing underwear that disappears to designing pieces that can move between private and public use. The strongest products will fulfil both roles at once: comfortable enough to live in, distinctive enough to be shown and versatile enough to style.