4 Gen Z fashion trends revived on TikTok in response to the pandemic (2024)

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Y2K — Gen Z's first escape into a pre-social media era, marked by bright colors that contrasted with a gloomy economy.

Spaghetti straps, crop tops, claw clips, and the straight-legged and low-rise jeans: Y2K has been back since we emerged from quarantine. It was the first fashion trend of the aughts that Gen Z revived on TikTok as they digitally connected with one another during lockdown.

What's ironic is that they bonded with one another over social media over the search for a simpler, pre-social media era.

They found that in the '90s and early 2000s, Michael Pankowski, the founder of the Gen Z marketing consulting firm Crimson Connection, previously told Insider. "While we love the internet, the pandemic's grave effect on in-person interaction has made the digital world basically all we have," he said. "So we feel nostalgic for a time before the internet had become so omnipresent."

It served as an escape from economic hardships they were going through, forced to attend school remotely and hardest hit generation with job loss. The bold colors of Y2K offered a spot of brightness in a world ravaged by climate change and a global health crisis.

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Indie sleaze — Characterized by hedonistic vibes during an era when flash photography reigned supreme, it represents a similar quest for a simpler time and more fun after an economic lockdown.

Reminiscent of an American Apparel model headed to a dance club during the Tumblr era, indie sleaze first appeared on TikTok last fall when Gen Z trend analyst Mandy Lee, known as OldLoserInBrooklyn on the social app, declared it was resurging.

It represents a thirst for fun after economic distress. Lee explained to Voguethat people are craving community and creativity after lockdown. "I feel like with the indie sleaze subculture, 15 years ago, community, art, and music were so powerful," she said, "that's what brought people together."

Dazed Digital's Daniel Rodgers described the aesthetic as "grubby, maximalist, and performatively vintage," while Nylon's India Robylikened it to a mashup between a Brooklyn hipster, the '80s electronica club scene, and grunge. Think Polaroid photos and party vibes, mohair cardigans and band t-shirts,cigarettesandwired headphones, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Pete Doherty.

Such uninhibited vibes are also a retaliation to the conspicuous wealth that emerged in the 2010s economy. As Isabel Slone wrotefor Harper's Bazaar, "Indie sleaze serves as a somewhat painful reminder of the last gasp in time when it was possible to envision a future unscathed by the ravages of late capitalism."

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Old money — An aesthetic featuring the Ralph Lauren polos and tennis skirts, and also known as ‘dark academia,’ looks down upon the 2010s economy that was built upon new, millennial money.

Gen Z has also adopted an "old money" aesthetic that romanticizes the aristocratic upper-crust lifestyle and nods to the economic boom times of the '90s: think WASPy dinner parties, country clubs, and summer sailboat vibes have taken over social media. They've been plastering Ralph Lauren campaign adsfrom the '90s andvintage tennis photos all over TikTok and Instagram — and they're spending big to recreate the Oxford shirt and tennis skirt looks.

Vox's Rebecca Jennings first reported on the trend, writing that Gen Z lusts after "the unapologetically pretentious Ivy League-slash-Oxbridge fourth-cousin-of-a-Kennedy country club vibe."

The trend is also referred to as "dark academia" or "light academia" depending on the setting, Morgane Le Caer, content lead at Lyst, previously told Insider. Like indie sleaze, the trend is another retaliation to the 2010s economy in which millennials came of age — a rejection of the decade's casual, new money looks on display both by Instagram influencers and the hoodie-wearing millennial billionaire class.

"It embodies the socialite lifestyle represented in culture by shows and films such as 'Gossip Girl' and 'The Talented Mr. Ripley,' and is the perfect opposite to the 'California Rich' aesthetic that was made popular by the Kardashian family," Le Caer said.

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Twee — Newly resurgent as people look fondly upon its era of origin, which was about finding happiness during political turbulence.

Dubbed the kitsch counterpart to indie sleaze by Vice's Katie Tobin, twee is the latest trend of the aughts to make a comeback. Popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the aesthetic was both cutesy and quaint, featuring Peter Pan collars, ballet flats, and cardigans. Zoey Deschanel is often cited as inspiration for the look.

Despite its charming appearance, twee's roots are more rebellious than anything. Tobin wrote that it originated in the "very feminist, very socialist, and very anti-Thatcher DIY music scene," later becoming associated more closely with the popular with indies music in the 2000s.

Modern twee rejects commercialism and the thinness it used to glamorize in the millennium, focusing more on diversity and body positivity, Anna Pompilio, a senior strategist and trend forecaster at the agency LPK, told Vogue.

The aesthetic also harkens back to its early British days in which twee, as writer Ian Wang wrote, "was about embracing a collective joy in the face of political despair." Seeing the trend emerge again after four years of a Trump administration and unprecedented economic times is no coincidence.

"Now that we've reached 2022, twee is camp, unapologetically queer, and after a turbulent and gloomy few years, ready to be revived for a whole new generation," Tobin wrote.