I knew latex was having a moment when I found myself checking out a tight, shiny shift for a fancy soiree this year. After much deliberation (Could I get away with it? Did I have ambitions to be a Playboy bunny? Would I be performing on stage? Did I think I was Kylie Minogue? What would people say about me?) in the end it was the enormous price tag and the fact I couldn't stick a blazer on top and wear it to, I don't know, a work function, that made me reject the latex and opt for lace instead.

Big mistake, quite obviously, because six months later, latex has surfaced on the coolest gals in town. Granted, these women spend their lives under the paparazzi microscope, and attending glamorous parties is their work, so they can write off the cost of the dress the way workers at a biscuit factory write off sensible shoes and gauze shower caps. But still, I couldn't help wonder whether I should have channelled my inner Catwoman and summoned the courage to wear it.

Form-fitting: Kim Kardashian wore latex in Melbourne this month.

Championing latex, naturally, is Kate Moss, who swanned into a party last week in a skintight, black latex bodysuit and skirt with a split up the leg. The designer, Atsuko Kudo, appears to be single-handedly responsible for bringing latex back to high fashion: Kim Kardashian shimmied in his nude latex creation through Melbourne. It was almost as though she had gotten too attached to how she looked all slippery in oil for Paper magazine in those shots, so she poured her body into the next best thing.

Then came the Pirelli calendar – that famed collection of photographs taken annually by a fashion photographer of the world's hottest models, with most of their kit off. Latex featured heavily in the 2015 edition, with seven out of the 12 girls coated in smooth plastic shine. There's Adriana Lima in a latex bra, Gigi Hadid in a latex bodysuit and Joan Smalls wearing latex boots, suspenders and briefs.