Butt cleavage is the latest red carpet trend.

Naked dresses have dominated red carpets for years, but there's a cheeky new contender in town.

If you've been keeping an eye on recent red carpet events, you might have noticed something rather, well, behind the times making a comeback.

That's right — we need to talk about butt cleavage, the cheeky trend that's experiencing a renaissance in 2025.

For more on the butt cleavage trend, listen to The Spill. Article continues after post. 

The 2025 Vanity Fair Oscars After Party saw Zoë Kravitz steal headlines with her elegant gown featuring a strategic sheer panel at the back, offering a tasteful glimpse of her bottom.

Despite being relatively more covered than some of her contemporaries, it was Kravitz who dominated post-event coverage. Why? Because sometimes, less really is more.

While the actual Oscar ceremony typically showcases more traditional, demure fashion, the after-parties have always been a place where celebrities can let loose and push boundaries with their event fashion — and this year, that meant putting derrières in the spotlight.

Zoë Kravitz at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscars After Party. Image: Getty.

Kravitz's look is a re-imagining of the 'naked dress' — those barely-there confections of lace and mesh that leave little to the imagination. We've seen Julia Fox free the nip, countless celebrities in see-through gowns revealing their underwear, and enough strategicly placed crystals to stock a craft store.

But there's something about the subtle reveal of lower back, curving into the bottom, that seems to have captured attention in a different way. It's the tease, the suggestion — rather than the full reveal — that's making waves.

If this all feels vaguely familiar, you're not wrong.

The red carpet's latest obsession with butt cleavage is merely an evolution of trends we've seen in fashion eras past. Cast your mind back to Bella Hadid's sexy lace number at the Met Gala, for instance…

Bella Hadid at the 2017 Met Gala. Image: Getty. 

Or Katy Perry's latex red number at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards? She even accessorised her look with a string-thong and skin-coloured butterfly lower-back tattoo, which was a real testament to '90s regrets.

Katy Perry at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards. Image: Getty

Not to mention Heidi Klum's bottom-skimming sparkly dress back at 2007's Victoria's Secret fashion show. And who could forget the early 2000s obsession with low-rise jeans that gave us all an education in celebrity lower backs and the occasional peek of bum?

Image: Getty. 

The trend takes the upper bottom — a region previously showcased solely by plumbers bending under your sink — and reinvents it. Gives it a couture spin.

You see, in the world of red carpet fashion, success isn't always measured in comfort, practicality, or even elegance, but instead, how 'talked about' your look is.

A beautiful but conventional gown might earn a mention in a best-dressed list, but an unexpected flash of something surprising? That's a headline-worthy fashion statement. It's perhaps why Kravitz, despite wearing more fabric than some of her naked-dress-clad counterparts, became the talk of the evening.

The trend has already infiltrated runways, with designers incorporating ultra-low backs into evening wear and even pushing boundaries with super low-cut jeans in menswear collections (see Diesel's FW25 runway in Milan). But the real test, in my humble opinion, would be seeing this trend make its way to the main Oscar ceremony red carpet. Now, that would be something.

Until then, we'll be keeping our eyes peeled as the return of butt cleavage continues its, ahem, cheeky rise to fashion dominance. One thing's certain: in the attention economy of red carpet fashion, the behind is definitely moving front and centre.

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Feature Image: Getty.