Gen Z is shaking up all established dress codes

Have you seen that the cargo pantset even the Crocs, are again popular with young people? These clothing trends may seem to some simply “ugly”; the fact remains that the fashion of the 2000s (Y2K) is all the rage right now.

The way of dressing has long been a preferred means by many people to express their creativity and affirm their status. Representatives of Generation Z take this very seriously. But far from being mere followers, they willingly venture to create their own styles, taking great pleasure in displaying their identity through their clothes.

Gen Z rejects everything from outdated gender stereotypes to established color schemes Passing by the idea of ​​the “perfect” body.

For several hundred years, it was the clothing industry that controlled trends. Her close relationship with the media, fashion icons and designers has allowed her to predict trends, but also plan aesthetic movements.

This relationship is now short-circuited by a generation of digital children who live in a world where the distinction between the digital universe and the physical world is blurring. Gen Z don’t let their behavior dictate; she does not wait nervously to be told she is fashionable. On social networks, she creates her own trends, boldly breaking all the rules.

The democratization of fashion

Each generation has transformed fashion in its own way. Baby boomers brought us flower power in the 1960s and 1970s by promoting “free love” at the expense of clearly defined social and gender roles owned by their parents.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the younger siblings of baby boomers invented punka subculture determined to use the symbols of the state against itself and deliberately play with the obscene and the vulgar, in an overall political climate of conservatism and repression.

Then, in the 1990s, we saw grunge appearGen X’s answer to a world without a future after the Cold War.

The next generation, for its part, has decided to abolish all existing rules of dress: you can be anything, you can be everything and you can be nothing.

Members of Generation Z (and even millennials) have witnessed the growing democratization of fashion through the expansion of social media and the global reach of digital platforms. They’ve seen thousands of little subcultures form online, evolve, implode, reform.

Take the example of the early 2000s ’emo’ trend. Once prominent, this subculture was relegated to the confines of the internet, and everyone thought it would wither away and disappear. And yet, emo style is experiencing a revival today: people are wearing black, corsets are becoming popular again, and Gen Z stars like Willow Smith et olivia rodrigo sport smoky eyes.

But Gen Z isn’t sticking to one style. Fashion has become a mixture of trends and ideas whose ingredients everyone can use to create and recreate their identity as often as they wish. There is joy in getting dressed, not fear. There are no rules.

no rules

As new fashion consumers happily reinvent notions of good taste and beauty, the traditional dissemination of trends has been supplanted by a proliferation of new sources defining what’s new and what’s next. From Instagramers to Icons, Vloggers to TikTokers, Influencers are now vast and varied.

young people create their own place in the world. A world where Crocs are all the rage and what “fits” is in the eye of the beholder. Underpants as a headdress or leggings as a scarf? Of course. And why not wear a keyboard as a top? Maximalism is taken to extremes: layers of clothing overlap and no color, object or pattern is prohibited.

These are the children of Covid, a generation that reached adulthood during a global health disaster where the only form of communication was via screens.

The boldest and craziest outfit is the one that will get the most attention on screen. For kids used to consuming media through TikTok rather than glossy editorials, only the most spectacular, fun and playful outfits will do.

Fashion has taken itself too seriously for too long. The levity of creative young people is exactly what we need right now. We should all emulate them and find pleasure in dressing however we see fit.

This article is republished from The Conversation sous licence Creative Commons. Lire l’article original.