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In its most common use, a towel is a transient item. It’s the thing you wrap up in once something’s just finished—a swim, a shower, or a sweaty jog—and the thing that signifies something better is to come. Many of the actresses, models, and musicians that allow Vogue into their homes and hotel rooms to get ready for events do it while wrapped up in a terry cloth towel, only to abandon it for a couture dress or runway look as they head out. Here’s an idea: Don’t!
As spring passes into summer, so must our WFH outfits adjust. Now, slugging out of bed with a quilt wrapped around us or rolling off the couch with a throw blanket tossed over our shoulders doesn’t seem all that practical. The towel provides a welcoming self-isolating style alternative. It’s humidity appropriate, moisture wicking, and— curiously enough—runway-approved.
Both Miuccia Prada and Ludovic de Saint Sernin posited the towel-as-garment for spring 2020, wrapping terry cloth minis around models’ waists. Amidst the upper-crust-on-holiday leather suits and proper gold-chain handbags of Miuccia Prada’s arte povera via Positano show was model Silte Haken in a white towel, folded over and cinched at her left hip. It was styled with a seashell-as-pearl necklace, a simple knit top, and a pair of woven loafers. In its mid-to-late-century iteration, a towel was often a shorthand for glamorous escapism—think of Vogue’s 1966 images of Contessa Brandolini d’Adda in her Venetian palazzo, hair wrapped up in a white towel, or the many ’80s babes that appeared in our magazine running, tanning, and primping with a towel dutifully wrapped around their middle. Prada’s towel skirt—available for purchase with a PR monogram (add your own “ADA”)—feels like a continuation of that idea, a declaration that elegance must be present even poolside.
For the hedonists, a towel is something altogether different. Ludovic de Saint Sernin, a maker of the most sensual menswear, sent an otherwise nude model down the runway in a beige terry loincloth. At the sight of him an audience member actually gasped, “Oh, my goodness.” The designer turned the female trope of getting-ready fun on its head with hotness.
Over the years, there have actually been a lot of towel turns on the catwalk, from Gianni Versace’s butterfly-clad bombshells to Chanel’s poolside dilettantes. So as you exit the shower tomorrow morning and contemplate what to wear, maybe leave the t-shirt and shorts behind in favor of a little more time in your towel. Or perhaps you’d like the look of a proper little suit in upcycled hotel towels by Marine Serre. My friend has been wearing hers during self-isolation with her hair wrapped up in a towel too. And why not? Discussing her spring collection, Miuccia Prada said that “personal style is more important than clothes.” Amen, Miuccia.
