The 'revenge dress' made headlines at New York Fashion Week, but what is it?

Julia Fox, freshly separated from Kanye West, opened the LaQuan Smith runway show in a gorgeous dress with suggestive cut-outs – labelled as a "revenge dress". Photo: AFP

After Princess Diana, Britney Spears, Jennifer Aniston, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift, just to name a few, it's Julia Fox, Kanye West's ex, who was happy to show off her "revenge dress" in the middle of New York Fashion Week.

Over nearly three decades, this term has regularly shown up in public discourse. So how can a simple piece of fabric, albeit well cut and styled, carry so many messages?