Why are designers dressing everyone in straitjackets?

Is this a fashion house, or a nuthouse? For spring, major designers are drawing inspiration from the asylum with extreme looks that bind women’s limbs and restrict their movement.

Tom Ford kicked off the trend two seasons back with ruched gowns that rendered upper arms nearly immobile. Cardi B was spotted in a black version at the designer’s New York show in September, while Katy Perry donned a pink version at the Gala for the Global Ocean in Monaco. Good luck swimming in that.

Other designers continued to constrict in their spring collections. Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia showcased an emerald-green minidress at Paris fashion week with giant, super-snug shoulder panels that pinned the model’s arms to her sides.

Meanwhile, designer Thom Browne took the trend even further with a nearly unwearable garment that caged in the model’s arms and hands.

Other pieces in the collection strapped down limbs with ropes, eliciting a scathing takedown from the popular fashion-watchdog Instagram account @diet_prada, which slammed the female bondage as “tone deaf” in the era of #MeToo.

While the verdict is out on the intended symbolism (one Instagram user suggested that the looks are a powerful feminist statement on systemic misogyny), one thing is clear: We’re living in crazy times.