Celebrities everywhere from the Italian lakes to the steps of the Metropolitan museum in New York are showing that the pregnancy bump is enjoying its own moment in the spotlight.

When Margot Robbie was photographed on Lake Como earlier this week, a cropped top left uncovered what was widely reported as being evidence of the Barbie actor’s pregnancy. The White Lotus actor Alexandra Daddario appeared in Vogue on Thursday wearing a Phoebe Philo shirt undone from the sternum down, baring a bump.

The model and activist Adwoa Aboah and the actor Sienna Miller have left their pregnant tummies bare for red carpets, photoshoots and trips to the corner shop in recent months.

“The shift in how pregnant bodies are perceived and celebrated in fashion is indeed a significant cultural evolution,” said Naomi Raybould, the founder and creative director of Beyond Nine, which offers “clothing for modern mamahood”. She added: “The rise of celebrities like Margot Robbie and Rihanna proudly showcasing their pregnant bellies has certainly influenced mainstream fashion, making it more acceptable and even on trend to highlight, rather than hide, pregnancy.”

Grace Kapin, who has been working in the maternity space for a decade – she co-owns the brand Storq – said: “I’ve been paying close attention for that long, and there has been such an obvious radical transformation in how pregnant bodies are viewed, not just by onlookers but by pregnant people themselves.

“There is so much more acceptance for how pregnant bodies truly look in their beautiful human variety than – and this may be my speculation – people felt was socially appropriate or had the confidence to try in the very recent past.”

Demi Moore baring her bump on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991 was seen as seismic. Now it is more commonplace for women, both in the public eye and out of it, to wear clothes that don’t cover up a growing tummy.

Rihanna has been a pioneer of this, in effect announcing her first pregnancy by going out with an ornately accessorised but otherwise bare baby bump. She said to the now head of British Vogue, Chioma Nnadi, at the time: “I’m hoping that we were able to redefine what’s considered ‘decent’ for pregnant women. My body is doing incredible things right now and I’m not going to be ashamed of that. This time should feel celebratory. Because why should you be hiding your pregnancy?”

There have been moments over the years that have served as a reminder of the queasiness that can be displayed around the pregnant body. In 1998 there was consternation when All Saints’ Melanie Blatt performed when she was five months pregnant, bump out and proud. “Bump watch” was a gauntlet for pregnant celebrities during the 1990s and 2000s gossip press. In 2019, tabloid papers criticised the Duchess of Sussex for “flaunting” her own baby bump.

Now, the list of celebrities – and, anecdotally, non-celebrities – leaving their tummies open to the elements is growing. “Since the spring I have seen pregnant bellies with bra tops and crop tops every day on the street,” said Kapin, who lives in New York. “I see stretch marks, scars, linea negras and just generally very approachable bodies out in the open and I am thrilled to see it.” She views it as “a signal of what’s to come trend-wise nationwide”. The same could be said for the UK.

She also thinks it is important to note that she now sees “bellies at all stages”, rather than just around the third trimester. “There has always been a struggle about when to announce or talk about a pregnancy, a stage of hiding behind your clothes until you’re ready to be totally scrutinised and picked apart by tabloids or co-workers.”

Name-checking Daddario, she added: “It’s a big deal for a celebrity to feel confident enough in how they look and feel at this stage to want to be featured this way.”

A lot of this is down to the evolution of maternity style. With searches for “maternity” down 45% year on year on the online fashion search business Lyst, the content editor Amy Fenton said: “We’ve noticed a huge shift in maternity fashion over the years. Bumps are now celebrated as part of your look – something to dress up rather than hide away.”

So-called peasant tops and peplums were once standard attire. Jackie Kennedy wore boxy suits for her pregnancies. Diana, Princess of Wales wore pie-crust-collar tent dresses. Again, Rihanna was instrumental, wearing everything from sheer lingerie-inspired designs to low-slung jeans and cropped rugby shirts. Many women now just wear what they wore before pregnant, sizing up where necessary.

It is also not unusual now to see maternity dressing done bump first, leading with a naked midriff rather than wrapping it tightly in body-skimming fabrics or seeming to want to hide it with empire-line tailoring or flounce.

“Historically, maternity fashion leaned heavily on loose, shapeless garments designed to conceal the bump, an approach that made me and others I spoke to feel uncomfortable,” said Raybould. “I think it’s wonderful pregnant women are feeling empowered to showcase and celebrate their bodies.” Kapin sees it as “wrapped up in trends in fashion, a push for more body positivity”.

Does it reflect shifts in wider attitudes towards motherhood? “Maybe it’s directly in contrast to the reversals we’ve seen at the supreme court level as far as who decides what decisions can be made about having babies and by whom,” said Kapin. “The public attitude seems to be more open and accepting than ever of women being able to show and talk about pregnancy on their own terms, whereas politically it’s become increasingly fraught.”