Logos lose their power on the new “Gossip Girl”

Even after the beloved teen drama series “Gossip Girl” ended in 2012, viewers couldn’t stop talking about the fashion. And now the show is back, with a Gen Z update. The reboot, which had its premiere on July 8 on HBO Max, takes place in the same world of wealthy Upper East Side New York City elite as the original, but this time it’s barely recognizable as the same place.

The show is significantly more diverse. The high school clique of the original show was mostly white and straight. Now there are several characters of color and plotlines that revolve around explorations of sexuality. The clothes the characters wear — maximalist sneakers, vintage purses, tote bags that promote their values — also reflect a more intersectional worldview.

“Are those last season’s Tory Burch flats?” an incredulous Blair Waldorf asks a fellow student in Season 2 of the original show.

Today, the question would be, “Are those Tory Burch flats?”

When designing the wardrobes for the original show, costume designer Eric Daman recalls walking by Upper East Side private schools and seeing groups of girls in Tory Burch flats. “It cemented the idea of, ‘OK, these young girls wear these designer brands and have cult favorites,’ ” he said. You’d see few logo-emblazoned ballet flats in that setting today.

Likewise, big brand logos will be rare sights on the new show. Large logos don’t “feel authentic to what’s going on with this generation,” Daman said. “They’re less faithful to brands and less cliquey about them.”

Logos used to signify status and a certain level of wealth, but today logos are often meant to convey political or social values. In the reboot, Zoya carries a tote from Revolution Books, a progressive indie bookstore in Harlem, as well as a “Recycling Black Dollars” tote bag from Melanin Apparel.

Today, staying true to Gen Z’s affinity for buying resale, several of the bags in the reboot are vintage.

Queen bee Julien frequently wears bike shorts, sometimes styling them with a collared shirt and tie. The athleisure movement, Daman said, “is a huge part of our culture and what’s going on in fashion.”

In the original show, Chuck Bass was most often seen in a suit, conforming strictly to gender norms.

In the reboot, Max

Wolfe, the flirty troublemaker of the group and the character most similar to Chuck, wears a white lace women’s Paco Rabanne shirt. Max, who is sexually fluid, is able to pull it off in a way that’s not kitschy or excessive.

And any OG “Gossip Girl” fan knows that headbands were a big deal. “Blair Waldorf’s headband has a life of its own,” Daman said. “It was always like her security blanket, for someone who was very tightly wound, very Type A. It was like the last piece of a very thought-out outfit that holds it all together.”

Headbands are scarce in the reboot, but neckties of all sorts are in.