In recent years, fashion trends have borrowed from vintage styles, often inspired by looks from the ’90s and early 2000s; However, this year’s summer style has much less to do with the past and more to do with the future.
Most people will now be familiar with Y2K style, which combines ’90s and ’00s clothing with everything from low-rise jeans to dirty vintage sneakers and huge silver hoops.
In recent years, Gen Z has looked to the past, drawing inspiration from the likes of Kate Moss, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, to choose their fashion wardrobes.
However This summer, fashion can turn its back on vintage and opt for a much more modern style: Y3K look, inspired by the futuristic fashion of emerging digital and AI age.
According to the Pinterest Summer Trends 2024 report, searches for Y3K have increased by 6030 percent.
Zendaya pictured at the London premiere of Dune: Part Two earlier this year. She wore a Mugler bodysuit reminiscent of Y3K fashion.
The Y3K aesthetic also includes many accessories. Fashion is heading into the future this summer as it leans towards Y3K style, inspired by the digital age and emerging artificial intelligence.
A fashion blogger is photographed wearing an outfit inspired by the fashion trend. She showed off her Y3K outfit in a short silver dress with matching long stockings and fluffy boots.
The surge in searches is also accompanied by a 170 percent increase in “retro future fashion” and, more specifically alien sci-fi style, a 460 percent increase in inspiration for “lime green outfits.”
The report also shows a 200 percent increase in searches for “silver sneaker outfits,” as the trend is represented through a shiny spaceship aesthetic.
The popular fashion look (its name is inspired by the year 2000) views fashion through the lenses, or space goggles, of someone who lived in the year 3000.
It combines futuristic flavors of metallic pants, chunky space boots and luminous makeup, with the familiar staples of baggy yet chic streetwear.
Y3K has even broken into the clue as seen in recent runway looks from Diesel, Ottolinger and Dion Lee.
Zendaya’s audacity Mugler’s suit at the Dune: Part Two premiere in London in March also showcased the bold sci-fi style.
The unusual new style has arguably become more well-known after K-pop band Aespa used the futuristic-inspired digital style to brand their music.
Particularly for the pop group, the looks are inspired by virtual reality and artificial intelligence, aiming to appear almost subhuman with holographic makeup, laminated-textured clothing, leather, and metallic silver jewelry.
One TikTok creator, @cinnagal, explained that the style can be found in “Japanese styles like Sabukaru or Tenshi Kaiwai,” while “Japanese sources also credit Chinese app XiaoHongShu” for starting the trend.
An Instagram user is pictured trying out the style. Y3K has made its way onto the designer clothing radar, as seen in recent runway looks from Diesel, Ottolinger and Dion Lee.
The Y3K style also features chunky, heavy jewelry and makeup that combines ethereal shine with a hint of holographic glitter.
The beauty element of the aesthetic includes thick 3D nails adorned with unusual gems and brightly colored embellishments for a maximalist look.
Sunglasses are another important element to perfect the Y3K look. The popular fashion look, coined to commemorate the third millennium, views fashion through the lenses, or space goggles, of someone living in the year 3000.
She explained that the aesthetic goes far beyond clothing and that accessories such as silver hairpins, 3D nail art and “alien” foundation makeup are all in fashion for the year 3000.
An important element of perfecting the spacey urban look is accessorizing your outfit with accessories, whether silver diamonds, safety pins, or abstract embellishments.
Unconventional and futuristic looking hair is also integrated into the aesthetic with long highlights, wild volumes and interpretive accessories all embraced under the Y3K umbrella.
On the opposite scale, while Generation Z begins to express interest in digital and futuristic style, their beloved Y2K is far from being thrown to the back of the closet.
Earlier this year, the flirty take on Y2K style is on the rise as women opt for youthful, fresh faces with a hint of sparkle, a la Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter.
On TikTok, many are embracing the flirty beauty look and making videos on how to achieve the baby-faced, doll-eyed look that Sabrina Carpenter has mastered, with lots of bright pink blush and fluttering lashes.
Those who embrace the trend are also fans of hyper-feminine doll lashes, bright highlighters, soft pink blush and romantic lip tints, to create a vintage look that combines powerful femininity and ’90s style.
The Y2K aesthetic has been popular in recent years, worn by both Gen Z and their elders millennials, who have had their turn to try out the bygone era of velour tracksuits and tinted sunglasses.
Nostalgic fashion is popular and reflects the constant recycling of fashion based on tastes over time.
The love of Y2K nostalgia is reminiscent of fashion designers, Michael Kors’ love for all things ’60s, or even Tom Ford’s admiration for the ’70s.
