The white tank top has entered it’s era of resurgence

The white tank top has gone from being a basic wardrobe staple to a designer must-have piece

The 2022 Autumn/Winter fashion season was dominated by something simple and basic—a white tank top. Almost every label from Prada and Bottega Veneta to Acne Studios and Chloe had models walking down the runway in a humble tank top. While you’d expect such a staple piece to be affordable enough, Prada has taken a leaf out of Balenciaga’s book when it comes to shock value, releasing their menswear-style tank top for retail at $995 that comes with the brand’s signature triangle logo. Once a simple undergarment, this year we seem to have shed the post-pandemic maximalist approach towards fashion, embracing a minimal look instead.

Symbol of cool

As far as history goes, the white tank top was designed in the 1910s as men’s undergarments to be worn under their shirts. Between the 1920s and 1940s, tank tops were seen as outerwear during the two World Wars. On screen, we’ve seen Hollywood icons like Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise wear white tank tops as a uniform for the cool, rebellious characters they portrayed in movies such as Die Hard (1988) and Mission Impossible (1996). As women protagonists entered the space of action films, a tank top became the symbol of empowerment, as seen on Angelina Jolie (and later, Alicia Vikander) in the Tomb Raider series (2001) and most recently, Kristen Stewart in the Charlie’s Angels reboot (2019).

In both music and fashion, this simple piece of clothing achieved a new level of popularity in the late 1990s and 2000s as hip-hop artists and rappers like 50 Cent, Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé wore white tank tops in most of their music videos, teaming it with baggy low-rise pants or denim mini-skirts. Nineties’ supermodel Kate Moss’ minimal, off-duty look comprising a tank top and jeans was even replicated by Calvin Klein in 1992.

While the white tank top was rebellious and cool during the nineties and the aughts, the 2022 version is elevated and luxe, with the kind of fabrics used by luxury fashion brands. Chloe’s version comes in a thick ribbed material, while Bottega Veneta’s tank top is made out of leather. With the return of Y2K trends and the rise of genderless fashion, stylist and creative consultant Daniel Franklin believes that luxury labels that have been inspired by streetwear culture in the past are now looking at a different direction. “Gen Z is primarily living their life online and on Instagram and TikTok, which, I think, is where a lot of designers are pulling in their inspirations from now,” says Franklin.

Mitali Joshi, the lead designer at BoStreet—a fashion brand that caters to millennials and Gen Z—points out that while essentials with monogrammed branding have always been around, it’s only now that we spot this trend on the runway as well. “Keeping up with the many Gen Z trends, most luxury brands have now made the essentials or their version of elevated basics a part of their runway collections. This is also why they are retailing at a price point higher than they would sell earlier,” explains Joshi. With designers embracing a tank top on the runway, it’s fair to say that the elevated version of this staple piece is here to stay.

The ‘clean girl’ aesthetic

Call it an ‘off-duty’ look, but a lot of Instagram accounts dedicated to models like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber feature photographs of them being spotted in tank tops, styled in different ways with trousers, jeans, sweatpants or oversized shirts. “Tank tops have always been around in some way or the other, sometimes as lounge wear or back-to-school outfits or as underlayers. They were a huge part of the Y2K fashion era, especially the ‘off-duty model look,’ which has made a comeback now,” says Joshi. Sartorially speaking, white tank tops exude an effortless look that most celebrities and models are spotted in, whether in heels or sneakers.

It's also owing to the pandemic and two years of being locked up indoors that most of us choose comfort over style in the form of loungewear, which luxury designers now are tweaking in their own ways to make it runway-ready. Acne Studios’ version of the tank top came paired with super high-waisted trousers with an embellished belt and a pair of heels. In India, however, streetwear and athleisure brands such as Bawse and March Tee are playing with luxe fabrics like supima cotton or ribbed jersey to make a cropped or a more sophisticated version of the tank top.

But the question that arises is–is the tank top worth the hefty price tag that these luxury brands have put on it? Joshi thinks that while it’s a personal call, it could be worth an investment piece if it’s well made. Franklin, on the other hand, believes in the mantra of shopping less, shopping local and shopping smart. Whether you buy your tank top from Prada or Primark, the versatility of this simple piece of clothing is sure to stand the test of time–and trends.

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