‘ 90s fashion makes comeback
On the runways, slip dresses, crop tops, stretch velvet and mini- kilts abound
In 1998, Britney Spears ruled the airwaves, Sex and the Citywas the hottest newshowonTV and Ginger Spice and co laced up theirUnion flag platform boots to clamber to box office glory. In 2018, Spears is fronting a major fashion campaign, a Sex and the City star is running for publicoffice and the most hotly anticipated album release on the horizon is from( wait for it...) the Spice Girls.
Hang on, what year is it again? Echoes of 1998 are so strong that anyone with even themost glancing relationship with fashion and culture could be forgiven for experiencing a touch of deja vu.
Blame Spears et al. The singer, who released
... BabyOneMoreTime in 1998, is the face and body ofKenzo’s SS18 LaCollection Momento. In Peter Lindbergh’s campaign images, shewears logo cropped sweatshirts, logo baseball caps, a denim bikini, a baby backpack and other pieces that reference her debut decade.
In other news straight out of ‘ 98, Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda Hobbes in SATC, entered the NewYork gubernatorial race. The actor and activist is facing offagainst multi- term incumbent AndrewCuomo, campaigning on the issues of improving education and the subway system.
And get ready for even more spice: 20 years after SpiceWorld grossed £ 54 million ( Dh277.8 million) at the box office, the Spice Girls are set for the release of a newgreatest hits album and an animated superhero film.
On the SS18 runways, ‘ 90s staples such as slip dresses, crop tops, stretch velvet, mini- kilts and tracksuit bottoms Britney Sprears is the face and body of Kenzo’s SS18 La Collection Momento. abounded. Miuccia Prada revived her bestselling nylon handbags, and at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld showed clearPVCboots and handbags— direct nods to the decade’s jelly sandals and micro- bags.
“The ‘ 90swere a clear influence on a large portion of designers this season,” says Ida Petersson, womenswear buying director at Brownsfashion. Model Kaia Gerber is known for her denim cutoffs and crop tops, much like Britney.
com.“There’s so much I almost feel like I’m reliving my youth.”
At least part of the allure of ‘ 90s style lies in its inherent comfort. Slip dresses, Lang, trainers— nothing fromthe decadewas as awkward or constraining as the killer heels and low- rise jeans thatwould followin the Noughties.
After20 years, cultural references and fashions from1998 qualify as vintage. “I completely embrace the ‘ 90s as officially vintage,” says Cameron Silver, founder of LA’s Decades, the luxury vintage boutique frequented by Michelle Williams and Nicole Kidman.
Among the 1998 pieces currently in his inventory are a GianniVersace couture backless evening gown, and he cites original Helmut Lang and Martin Margiela pieces as “valuable and extremely interesting” to his clients. “It also looks fresh to younger shopperswhoweren’t alive in the ‘ 90s.” Gerber on the catwalk for Chanel.
Therein lies a crucial distinction: 1998style tends to best suit those too young to remember coveting Spears’s schoolgirl look the first time around. Just look atKaia Gerber, whose denim cutoffs and crop tops are very original Britney.
As someonewho’s been there, done that and endured the blisters from more than one pair of jelly sandals, the idea of 1998 risingmakesmecringe... Yet I’m writing this story wearing a pastel- pink crushed- velvet skirt. It’s only natural that younger millennials and Gen Z- ers should idealise fashion eras they missed, but shouldn’twe havemoved on?
Silver’s advice is not to take anything too literally. “I have a very strict philosophy aboutwearing vintage: Ask yourself, ‘ Does this look modern?’” he says.“No onewants to look like awalking anachronism.”