Over a decade on from the Free The Nipple campaign, we look at the stars who’ve flown the flag for freedom.
Bella Hadid
Style queen Bella has often been spotted out and about without her support – and by support, we don’t mean her sister, Gigi!
In 2016, Bella declared she had thrown herself behind the Free The Nipple movement. ‘I'm really proud to be a woman. I love that women can be feminine but also powerful. You know, free the nipple!’
And talking about the reasons for her love of letting everything hang loose, she added, ‘I mean, my mom is European. My whole family is European. We were always very comfortable with our bodies. It's fine if you don't want to show your body like that. But if a woman wants to show her body, I'm all for it. Everybody loves a little nip.’ Oh we sure do, Bella!
Kim Kardashian
The words ‘tape’ and ‘Kim Kardashian’ might lead AI to believe that this story is about the specialist movie she made with Ray J in 2007. Well, AI, your algorithms are completely wrong – and not for the first time!
We are in fact talking about the materials used by Kim K to heave her boobs into prime position - and selfie kween Kim has turned this procedure into a fine art to replace the humble bra. She once claimed, ‘I've used everything from duct tape to packing tape to masking tape and I think that the best I found is gaffer's tape. It sticks the best!’Helpfully she added, ‘Make sure you don't have any lotion or oils on when you're lifting your boobs up with the tape.’ Worryingly, she added, ‘Just brace yourself for when it's time to take it off LOL.' Literally OUCH!
The reality star – who had spoken of how she loves ‘sheer vibes’ when it comes to fashion – has also released a Nipple Push-Up Bra on her Skims label – apparently the first of its kind and quite possibly the cause of eye injuries if you’re not careful. So even when wearing a bra, it doesn’t look like you’re wearing a bra. Confusing huh?
Charli XCX
She had a massive Brat Summer last year but she’s unlikely to have a bra summer anytime soon as Charli literally hates them. While she was still working away at hitting the big time a few years ago, she said, ‘I'm really not into bras right now, much to my tour manager's dismay. He's like 'where am I going to put your in-ears?' and I was like 'well, maybe I should pierce my nipples?' But I'm not wearing a f*cking bra anymore, so...’
Meanwhile, she had an interesting exchange more recently with ‘shock jock’ radio DJ Howard Stern when he interviewed her on his show.
In what some fans described as a ‘bit creepy’, Howard told her, ‘This whole idea that you are anti-bra… I can’t tell you how long I have been against bras. I don’t like them either. I know I’m a dude, but you coming out as a celebrity and saying, ‘Look I don’t like wearing a bra, I’m against bras.’ It’s fabulous and I want to thank you for that.’
Charli - sounding fairly awkward about this - replied, ‘Well, you’re welcome Howard. I feel like maybe our kind of reasoning behind not being into bras, you know I think we might be coming from slightly different perspectives.’ Put it this way, Charli – he’s never enjoyed the feeling of pinging a wired bra off after a hard day in the recording studio.
Rihanna
As the Kween of R&B, Rihanna’s made a name for herself with her outrageous style choices. Explaining her fashion philosophy in 2014, she proudly revealed, ‘If I'm wearing a top, I don't wear a bra. If I'm wearing a bra, I just wear a bra’. Sounds fair enough.
But the biggest-selling female recording artist of the 21st century, added that she wasn’t doing it for clicks.
‘I get caught a lot of times without wearing a bra - but it was never my intention. If I don’t wear a bra, that means I didn’t want to wear a bra. It’s not usually for attention, it’s just because it would mess up the outfit completely.’
As young girl, she’d been desperate to get fitted with her first bra, revealing in 2023, ‘I do remember begging for my first bra. I didn’t even have boobs. I was like ‘mom, can I have a bra’ and she was like ‘for what?’ And I was like I just want one because you have one.’
But after more than a decade of letting loose, RiRi admitted that gravity finally caught up with her in her late 20s.
‘When I turned 20 I stopped wearing bras for a good - almost a decade - and then I needed bras because I grew boobs all of a sudden in my late 20s and I thought you know what I’m just going to make them. I made them I love them…and now I need them because I had babies!’
Jennifer Aniston
The ‘did she/didn’t she?’ debate carried on for years after Jen hung up her hat as Rachel Green on Friends. Had TV’s most loveable Friend really never worn a bra? The photographic evidence would suggest she hadn’t – but years later Jennifer Aniston addressed the subject, insisting she had worn a bra throughout her time on the show.
However, she did use it as an opportunity to take credit for the Free The Nipple campaign!
‘Yeah, I don't know what to say about that! It's just one of those things, I guess. I wear a bra, I don't know what to tell ya! And I don't know why we're supposed to be ashamed of them — it's just the way my breasts are! But hey, OG [of the #FreeTheNipple trend], I'm not going to complain!’
Away from the show, the evidence is conclusive – Jen is a regular on the red carpet without a bra, most recently at the Galentine’s Party she held in Hollywood with pal Selena Gomez.
Kendall Jenner
As a top model and socialite, Kendall naturally has a sizeable amount of confidence.
And she’s certainly not shy of going braless – saying she does it because, ‘I’m not embarrassed by my body’.
In a blog post titled ‘Free The Nipple’ she wrote, ‘I really don’t see what the big deal is with going braless! It’s sexy, it’s comfortable and I’m cool with my breasts. That’s it!’
In 2018, she went even further, stating, ‘I’m weird, I love my tits being out!’ You go, girl!
And then she started talking piercings, as she declared going braless as a ‘fun way to show off my different nipple rings’. And they don’t get snagged in her underwire – that’s a plus!
Emily Ratajkowski
Feminist icon and all-round bundle of gorgeousness, EmRata, has often stepped out without the trappings of a pesky bra. When asked in an interview whether she liked the natural look, she replied, ‘For sure. Because bras are miserably uncomfortable. Bras are so uncomfortable and sometimes it looks so pretty to not have a [bra] line. So I just let it go and let it happen. It makes for some interesting scenarios; sometimes I hug someone and it’s all up in my business. But at a certain time of the month, they need [a bra]. I wear a 32D, which is a very specific size, so I love La Perla and Free People, which make them.’
Nicki Minaj
The Starships singer has made a name for herself by letting her big rockets take off on stage with her daring outfits letting everything loose.
And when she sat down for an interview with chat legend Ellen DeGeneres, she revealed why she’s so down on bras.
As Nicki sat down – clearly not wearing a bra - Ellen noted, 'Well, that’s quite a jacket you got on there,' with Nicki replying, 'Don't start'.
Ellen quipped, 'Look, if you need to borrow a bra from me. You just let me know’, with Nicki replying, 'I hate bras... Bras are like the devil...' It’s a look that’s certainly given some people horns, Nicki!