Polka dots are everywhere once you start looking—Mini Mouse merch, your grandmother’s tea cosy, and, of course, on the red carpet. This season, in particular, they’re thriving in the form of glamorous summer dresses that are guaranteed to survive every closet purge.
The whimsical print owes its name to a dance style that originated in the Czech Republic. But the motif itself is beloved all around the world, really. In Spain they’re called lunares (“little moons”), Germans liken them to coins, and the word ‘batik’ comes from the Javanese word that means ‘to dot’.
For Mumbai-based graphic designer and artist Shweta Malhotra, a polka-dot obsessive, the pull is elemental. “It’s the simplicity of the shape: the sun, the moon, the earth, a bindi... The list is endless,” she says. Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, also known as the Princess of Polka Dots, has been her recurring inspiration. Malhotra’s polka-dress roll call includes Marimekko, Comme des Garçons, Lovebirds Studio, and a black-and-white Nicobar dress she calls a must-buy.
On today’s spring/summer 2025 runways, designers lent dots fresh weight. Saint Laurent dotted them onto sharp lapels, Celine stretched them across dramatic maxi skirts, and Dolce & Gabbana even doubled down with print-on-print suiting, while Sandy Liang and Patau offered girlish, 1920s-inflected spins. Even the Resort ’26 calendar—from Ann Demeulemeester to Fendi—was practically stippled.
Off the runway, polka dresses are multiplying in celebrity wardrobes. Janhvi Kapoor wore a custom Miu Miu version at the TIFF red carpet just this week, Ariana Grande brought back the peplum dress in Fendi at the VMAs, while Rachel Zegler met fans of her Evita performance in a body-hugging dotted mini dress in London. Those are just a few of the most recent glimpses of dots out in the wild because spots, it seems, spare no one.
In case you’re looking to bring a bit of the print’s playful, retro fun into your own wardrobe, we’ve curated a list of our own favourite spotted dresses.
