Corona may have originated in Wuhan, but rumour has it the virus was actually super-spread on the front row at Milan and Paris Fashion Week courtesy of the air kiss. Purse-lipped pecks which dominoed around show venues, dispelling tiny flecks of spittle like a perfume salesman in duty-free. Cheeks slathered in the moist mist of the industry’s glitterati. Needless to say, the kiss, in all its sloppy, frothy guises, has been lumbered with some particularly heavy baggage over the past year or so. 

It’s not just a frigid “mwah” passing through the air, though – fashion can’t resist a French kiss either. Especially if that comes by way of Simon Porte Jacquemus, who is unveiling La Montagne, his first collection in over a year, today. Since his debut guerilla show in 2009, fans have been left lovestruck by the designer’s charming, breezy collections and blissful, provençal, thirst traps. But this kind of unapologetic sensuality is at the core of the Jacquemus appeal. Be it the designer proudly necking his boyfriend on Instagram or the label’s SS21 campaign – which was basically just hot, naked couples making out – Jacquemus plays into a time-hallowed tradition of snogging in fashion.

Whether it’s political or just plain pervy, designers have long captured the throes of foreplay in an attempt to stimulate more than just our wallets. So from Benetton’s tongue-blasting politicians – not Matt Hancock, surprisingly – to Balenciaga’s pashing Parisian lovers, we dive headlong into fashion’s fixation with getting its lips wet.