Fashion’s love affair with the breastplate

Once used as protective gear in ancient Greece, the breastplate has inspired designers through various eras — from Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen in the 1960s and ‘70s to Shakira’s Lunar Blue Wolf Gown designed by Gaurav Gupta

Global pop icon Shakira chose a sculptural Lunar Blue Wolf Gown for her maiden performance at the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, which marks her feisty return to the stage after seven years. The Colombian singer’s outfit, designed by Gaurav Gupta, featured a custom-molded metallic breastplate adorned with an intricate wolf motif. This also points at the return of the breastplate, an accessory that has made waves from mythology to modern fashion.

Inspired by the idea of armour, Gaurav wanted to create something that was not as defensive but an outward expression of inner strength and beauty. “The breastplate is a sculptural yet ethereal statement, celebrating the balance between protection and grace,” adds Gaurav, who also created the silver bustier that Alia Bhatt sported when she debuted at the Paris Fashion Week 2024 in September as L’Oréal Paris’s newly appointed global ambassador.

“The metal breastplate she (Alia) wore is part of our artistic journey, initiated in the Aarohanam collection at Paris Couture Week Spring/Summer 2024. The piece was custom moulded to her form and took about 50 hours for craftspersons to perfect,” says Gaurav.

The designer’s interpretation points towards the ever-evolving nature of the breastplate that was once purely used as protective gear in ancient Greece. It was typically made with hammered bronze plates and boiled leather.

However, in the 1880s, the influence of the Victorian era metamorphosed the piece of armour into a form-fitting, long-waisted bodice known as ‘cuirass bodice’.

Many iterations later, the breastplate emerged on high fashion runways in the late 1960s and early 70s, having been embraced by prolific designers like Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen. A decade later, Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake’s rendition of the breastplate Plastic Body became the centrepiece of his Bodywork series that highlighted experimental and sculptural garments.

In India, designer Suneet Varma was the first to take the plunge in 1991. Inspired by Sandro Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus, he used breastplates for blouses and created quite a stir. The idea of combining the metal piece with a sari, he says, came from a deeper desire to challenge conventional boundaries of fashion and redefine how traditional attire could be worn.