What comes after Y2K fashion? More Y2K fashion!
Picture this: a midriff-baring ribbed tank top paired with camouflage cargo pants, and a Fendi baguette bag nonchalantly slung over the shoulder; frayed denim shorts belted by a chunky round buckle, paired with strappy kitten heels and a Von Dutch trucker hat; a pink velour tracksuit with a Gothic font spelling NASTY in rhinestones across the rear, topped off with a pair of Matrix-style sunglasses. What might sound like fashion relics from a bygone era are all looks you will find worn on Instagram over the past year by the biggest models of the moment— and, as of this season, it’s a style that is still going strong on the runways.
Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com
Yes, you read that right: the early 2000s are ruling the catwalk with a vengeance. Whether it’s Miu Miu’s ballet flats, Blumarine’s dresses over bell-bottoms, or even an appearance from the grande dame of high-low Y2K fashion herself, Paris Hilton, in the Versace spring 2023 show, the kitsch glamour and head-spinning eclecticism of this divisive decade in fashion have become all but inescapable. So, too, have some of the decade’s most notorious brands, from the recent revival of Baby Phat to the rebirth of Juicy Couture to the resurgence of the Ugg through modish collaborations with the likes of Feng Chen Wang and Madhappy. Meanwhile, this year marked the 20-year anniversaries of some of the most influential pop-culture phenomena of Y2K style, from The O.C. to One Tree Hill to That’s So Raven.
So where did it all begin? Like most fashion trends right now, it started bubbling under—with a little help from Gen-Z influencers—on TikTok, where you’ll find e-girls with retro hairstyles, beaded chokers, and butterfly clips happily dancing to “Mr Brightside” and lamenting that they were “born in the wrong decade.” It’s also been a popular tag on every teenager’s favorite resale app, Depop, where it doesn’t take much trawling to find Miss Sixty jeans (a brand now fronted by Bella Hadid), a Blink-182 T-shirt, or a pair of Skechers fetching hundreds of pounds. If this doesn’t make you feel old already, the fact that many of them are labelled as “vintage” might.