The Y2K style is back on the runways

Now halfway through the current year, we can say it: 2021 wins the title of year of nostalgia and great come-backs. And we're not just talking about Bennifer's renewed love story or the arrival of the long-awaited reboots of historical TV shows like Sex & The City and Gossip Girl (in addition to the recent Reunion of Friends), but the return of references to the aesthetics of the 2000s in fashion. Just think  that the hashtag #Y2K currently has over 2.2 billion views on TikTok. The Y2K style was born in the late 90s and has evolved to reflect the social, technological and cultural changes of the entire decade.

But where does the inspiration come from today? Gen Z is influenced by icons of the past to recreate a "Y2K baddie" style thanks to the pop culture references of IG accounts like @2000sanxiety, which take us back in time on a nostalgic journey among the icons that marked those years, from Britney Spears to Rihanna, from JLo to Paris Hilton.

Fashion is like a circle, we know that, just like the trends that appear, disappear and return after years stronger than ever in their new, contemporary versions. If among the vintage beauty trends it is the 70s and 90s that are taking over the scene, especially in terms of hairstyle with mullets and braids, Fawcett Flip and curtain bangs, it is the controversial fashion of the 2000s to make its way on the catwalks and between the street styles of celebrities and influencers.

Low-waist jeans and baggy pants, mesh tops, mini-skirts, asymmetrical skirts, shiny and glittery tops are among the trends that return from that era, along with iconic items like the Dior Saddle bag and baguette bags, mask sunglasses or with colored lenses, the butterfly tops by Versace,... All these trends, in order to get to the Gen Z fashionistas (many of whom in the early 2000s were not born yet), have inevitably passed from the looks of contemporary celebs, artists, models who made the revival style of the 2000s their own signature. From Kali Uchis to Jorja Smith, from Bella Hadid to Dua Lipa.

The strength of these trends derives from the power of fashion houses to influence our style with their latest collections, thus making the 2000s trends a bit like that ex boyfriend/girlfriend we had promised ourselves we would never get to see again and instead keeps coming back, cyclically, in our lives. As well as thongs with low-waist pants.

Dwelling on the latest Fashion Weeks, you immediately notice that many brands have taken up style details and inspiration from the looks of the 2000s icons. In particular, emerging brands and designers like Charlotte Knowles, Chet Lo and Masha Popova, or young creative directors who found themselves in the task of refreshing a historic fashion house with cool and captivating ideas. As in the case of Nicola Brognano for Blumarine and Glenn Martens for Diesel. The first has reinterpreted the codes of the brand in a provocative, glamorous and modern way with vibrant colors and details inspired by the fashion of the 2000s and the looks of the icons of that period, making them current; The second combined “lifestyle, denim, fun & fashion” creating a perfect balance between the brand's heritage and its future.
So from Area to MSGM, from Versace to KNWLS, fashion seems to have noticed our nostalgia for the style of the first decade of the new millennium, adding to its collections that playful and ironic twist that only the Y2K style could convey.