Kylie Jenner wore a 'naked' bikini with nipples printed on it to make a statement on Instagram
- Kylie Jenner shared a photo of herself wearing a bikini with nipples printed on the fabric.
- The $325 swimwear set is part of the Jean Paul Gaultier X Lotta Volkova "naked" collection.
Kylie Jenner wore a nipple-printed bikini top in a series of photographs posted on her Instagram account Monday.
Since Saturday, the 24-year-old beauty mogul has posted photos on social media showing herself and a few friends enjoying a lakeside vacation, which the Daily Mail reported took place in Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona.
One photograph Jenner posted on Instagram showed her wearing a nude-colored bikini with nipples printed on the fabric to give the illusion she wasn't wearing a top. She captioned the picture "free the nipple," and it had received over 9.6 million likes as of Tuesday.
In the second photo in the photo carousel, she tagged the French haute-couture designer Jean Paul Gaultier, crediting his fashion house as the one behind the swimwear. "The Naked" Bikini, as it's called, retails at $325 for the full set and also comes in a darker-skin-tone design.
The collection the bikini is from is a collaboration between Gaultier and the Russian designer Lotta Volkova. In an interview with Vogue's Steff Yotka, Volkova said the aim for the provocative line, which consists of nude-printed floor-length dresses selling for $680, tops starting at $450, and the swimwear, was "capturing the quintessence of Jean Paul and reintroducing it to the contemporary fashion audience, to the younger generations, and for them to be able to buy."
Jenner's caption about freeing the nipple comes after years of controversy surrounding Instagram's strict community guidelines when it comes to nudity, which is not allowed.
"This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks," the guidelines read. "It also includes some photos of female nipples."
It goes on to specify that photographs of nipples in certain contexts, including breastfeeding, health-related situations, paintings and sculptures, or "an act of protest" is "OK too."
After the model Bella Hadid posted a series of blurry images showing herself wearing a see-through top, Insider reported that she was one of a growing list of women pushing the limits of the social-media service's rules, including Emily Ratajkowski, Chrissy Teigen, Chelsea Handler, and, now, Jenner.
It's also not the first time the Kylie Swim founder has worn clothing with an optical illusion. For her appearance alongside Travis Scott and their daughter Stormi Webster at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, she opted to wear a Balmain dress that featured a subtle optical illusion of a naked figure.
Representatives for Jenner, Gaultier, and Volkova did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment on the design.