Why is Gen Z So Obsessed with Y2K Fashion?
Born between 1997 and the early 2010s, Gen Z grew up with cell phone in hand, and have been quick to adapt to new technology and trends. The selfie generation, TikTok teens, or whatever you want to call them are accustomed to consuming entertainment, social media, fashion, and more at the push of a button.
In keeping with that sense of immediacy, young people celebrate and discard trends at lightning speed, further accelerating the cyclical nature of fashion. These days, microtrends emerge and fade in a matter of weeks, thanks to oversaturation on social media and fast fashion outlets. From off-the-shoulder tops to the mob wife aesthetic to all the "-core" trends—think cottagecore, cowboycore, and mermaidcore as recent examples—the influence of social media is more prevalent than ever in the way Gen Z shops and styles their clothing.
That being said, the one trend that Gen Z hasn't been able to cast aside is the resurgence in Y2K fashion. With cargo pants, low-rise jeans, tracksuits, Ugg boots, headbands, and baby tees back in the wardrobes of Gen Z fashion enthusiasts across the globe, it's hard not to turn our eyes to the enduring influence of the 2000s.
While Y2K style elements trend on TikTok every so often, teens on the Internet aren't the only members of Gen Z looking to the past. Celebrities and style icons like Bella Hadid, Olivia Rodrigo, and Kaia Gerber have embraced the fashion looks of their childhoods and have served as Y2K style inspirations for fellow celebrities and their social media followers alike. Whether Gen Z is wearing dresses over jeans à la Miley Cyrus or reviving leopard print, there's no denying the continued interest in the fashion of the 2000s.
Just as Millenials have anchored their attention toward quintessential '90s styles, Gen Z has locked into a committed relationship with Y2K styles.
Both generations have latched onto their respective nostalgia-fuelled trends, displaying how vintage-inspired fashion and its celebration of the past have evolved into a source of escapism and comfort. For Millennials, who grew up in the wake of 9/11 and came of age during the 2008 Great Recession, looking back to their adolescence in the '90s and the aesthetic cues of those times offers a sense of familiarity as the world shifts uncertainly around them. Studies have shown that Millennials are particularly risk averse, and in the fashion realm, that means they would rather return to a tried and true trend, making the '90s era of minimalism a natural style choice.
For over half a decade, '90s style has dominated runways. Hedi Slimane's Fall/Winter 2013 collection for Saint Laurent leaned into the moodiness of '90s youth culture. In 2018, Marc Jacobs reissued his Perry Ellis Grunge collection, and the next year, Versace brought back its bondage dresses. Now, up-and-comer Sandy Liang’s late ‘90s-inspired looks have officially made her a go-to cool-kid label. The decade that is characterized by grunge and minimalism is reflected in the street style of Millennial influencers.
On social media, the '90s also live on. Instagram archives of style and celebrities in the 1990s, like the @90sanxiety account, share 25-year-old images of Jennifer Lopez en route to the gym in typical '90s styles to 2.6 million followers. But as @90sanxiety grows in popularity among Millenials, another account is growing too. Following suit, @2000sanxiety has over 320,000 Instagram followers and counting. Y2K-era styles as originally worn by It Girls like Britney Spears, Devon Aoki, and Lindsey Lohan garner hundreds of thousands of likes. Thanks to accounts like this, old photos of the era's biggest celebrities have circulated the internet, ending up as style inspiration photos on Pinterest boards and TikTok slideshows of young Gen Z users across the world.
While Millennials may not want to don frosted eyeshadow and recreate high school yearbook photos, the aesthetic of the early aughts has found a home with Gen Z. Butterfly clips, velour sweatsuits, and tinted sunglasses are taking over TikTok. Dua Lipa—admittedly born one year too soon to technically be a member of Gen Z but a Gen Z icon nonetheless—has rocked bleached bangs reminiscent of Christina Aguilera’s chunky highlights.
Even aspects of the early 2000s scene kid look have returned. E-boys (and e-girls) are rocking painted nails, waffle-knit tees, and crop tops with such confidence that Celine named its Spring/Summer 2021 collection “The Dancing Kid” in their honor. Influencers like TaraYummy and Jake Webber reign supreme on TikTok and Youtube as the It Emo style icons to emulate, and indie sleaze styles have seen a renaissance on social media as the newest wave of cool-girl fashion.
Meanwhile, viewers can relive the awkwardness of middle school by streaming Hulu's popular Pen15, which follows two teens in the year 2000, complete with a number of the era's quintessential fashion moments, from pedal pushers and baby tees to cargo pants and bedazzling. While Millenials regard these looks as cringe-worthy, Gen Z has drawn inspiration from the polarizing fashion era.
Gen Z’s embrace of early 2000s style, however, is not just a case of looking to the past for aesthetic inspiration. For those that grew up on the edge of the pre-iPhone, pre-social media era, the early 2000s represent a nebulous period of barely memorable, blissful ignorance. When Kim Kardashian West is pictured on @90sanxiety, it's easy to marvel at the grainy, film-developed images. But when she's on @2000sanxiety, it's hard not to be amused at how recently she was Paris Hilton's sidekick.
While personal memory drives a love for '90s fashion among Millennials, for Gen Z, it's more an appeal of aesthetic tastes. for the younger generation, the ‘90s represents a far-off fashionable fantasy depicted only in film photos and polaroids, whereas the 2000s are a distant but recognizable reality.
Every generation faces new struggles, but the introduction of social media, the smartphone, video games that track your body, and other technology has dramatically changed the experience of childhood at an unprecedented and, frankly, terrifying rate since the late 1990s.
In these tumultuous, ever-changing times, designers like Marine Serre, Balenciaga, and Gucci have used fashion to express a simultaneous nostalgia for the past and an escapist future. Gen Z’s incorporation of early 2000s pieces into their contemporary outfits represents a similar effort. Longing for the early 2000s is less about the social and political realities of the era, and more about the period presented in shows quite literally named The Simple Life. When the present seems scary, Gen Z returns to the comfort and simplicity of childhood or adolescent fashion as an homage to the easy euphoria of days long past, whether that looks like Y2K-esque loungewear or low-rise jeans.
Today, Gen Z is known for valuing sustainability and social change, but for those without massive budgets, the perceived need to consume both ethically and quickly has led to a burgeoning online vintage and resale market, which is where the reign of second-hand shopping apps like Depop and Grailed come in.
90 percent percent of Depop’s users are under 26, and about one-third of people aged 16 to 24 in the UK use the app. "Y2K" has become a popular hashtag on Depop, indicating the established market for early 2000s trends. Dubbing the era Y2K—1999's infamous widespread panic over a digital apocalypse—feels like a coping mechanism for our current situation. The irony is, however, that Gen Z users claiming Y2K styles are too young to remember the genuine concern over the Y2K bug and the possibility of computers failing at the turn of the millennium–but they do remember the Juicy Couture tracksuits, low-rise denim, and bedazzling phenomenon that subsequently dominated fashion in the early 2000s.
Thrifting culture has also run rampant among the younger generation, as seen through an influx of vintage store hauls on Instagram and TikToks posted by teenagers chronicling hangout sessions at second-hand shops. While Millenials and Gen X women are eager to cast aside their polarizing 2000s pieces, Gen Z is eager to give them a new home in their own wardrobes. Low-rise jeans, baby tees—sometimes sourced straight from the children's section—and micro skirts are all particularly sought-after pieces these days, and while some Gen Zers opt to shop new, revamped Y2K styles, others seek the aisles of thrift stores for their 2000s fashion fix. After all, where better to seek affordable, sustainable looks?
Gen Z fashion icons like Bella Hadid and Olivia Rodrigo have also demonstrated that the Y2K revival isn't just occurring in online spaces. Both regularly sport Y2K looks like the thick jersey headband, low-rise jeans, and crop tops, making headlines with their early aughts fashion choices with every new street style look.
Nostalgia-induced fashion is not by any means a new phenomenon—think the cyclical fashion phenomenon—but Gen Z’s growing fascination with the early 2000s is more than just a case of everything old becoming new again. Hidden beneath our love of belly chains, terry cloth, and velour is a yearning for a time when the biggest threat of the era ended up being nothing at all. While it may appear a unique case, the obsession with Y2K fashion is not at all unlike the Millennial obsession with the ‘90s, or even Tom Ford’s love of the sensual elements of the ‘70s.
There's no denying that the 2020s have been a collective period of chaos, what with the upcoming U.S. election, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate change crisis, and with all the disorder and confusion that adulthood has brought Gen Z, it’s hard not to wish for the not-too-distant days when adolescence and early adulthood were all about going to the mall.
