Historically speaking, the bandage dress has had quite a reputation. Not just a passing fashion phase, but a cultural artifact sewn tight with symbolism. First surfacing in the mid-1980s, credited to Azzedine Alaïa before Hervé Léger took it to superstardom in the ’90s, the bandage dress has always been a bold statement. And now, in 2025, it’s back again.
Let’s rewind. The bandage dress entered the fashion scene as a stark contrast to the angular, armored power suits dominating women’s wardrobes in the 1980s. While designers like Thierry Mugler offered broad-shouldered silhouettes, Alaïa’s creation celebrated the female form differently—wrapped tightly but deliberately, evoking both sensuality and structure. It was less about softness and more about control. When Hervé Léger introduced his version in the early ’90s, he took the bandage dress into the spotlight. What started as an avant-garde concept became a fixture on red carpets and in closets everywhere.
During the supermodel era of the ’90s, the bandage dress became uniform. Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Iman were all squeezing into one. And then came the 2000s. Club culture exploded and the bandage dress became the night-out uniform. Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Victoria Beckham, and Paris Hilton all slipped into bandage dresses. It was a fashion rite of passage, especially in an era obsessed with thinness, gloss, and red carpet relevance. The rise of fast fashion and celebrity-styled runway culture only spread the dress further. By the 2010s, the bandage dress had filtered through the masses. House of CB built its entire identity on selling body-hugging silhouettes that nodded to Hervé Léger.
Today, the bandage dress is back. Last year, Kaia Gerber stepped out in a white bandage dress echoing her mother’s iconic 1993 Oscar look. Hailey Bieber then gave her nod of approval to the style, setting the ball rolling for the return of the bandage dress. TikTok influencers are celebrating the return. And brands like House of CB are riding the nostalgia wave, repackaging their original bestsellers for a new generation.
