Gen Z brought post-recession hipster fashion back — rebranded as 'indie sleaze'

• Gen Z brought back the maximalist indie sleaze aesthetic of the mid-aughts.
• Think American Apparel and flash photography: it's hipstery, a little grungy, and clubby.

Another mid-aughts aesthetic has made a comeback thanks to Gen Z: indie sleaze.

Millennials may know it as "hipster."

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

Several outlets have since reported on the rise of the aesthetic. Dazed Digital's Daniel Rodgers described it as "grubby, maximalist, and performatively vintage," while Nylon's India Roby likened 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, cigarettes and wired headphones, Mary-Kate Olsen and Pete Doherty.

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As is the case with most of the '90s and early 2000s trends Gen Z has recently revived, the aesthetic is a retaliation to the conspicuous wealth that emerged in the 2010s economy. Indie sleaze is an uncurated, hot mess — the opposite of the clean, minimal vibe of millennial productivity and influencing. This post-coronavirus recession rise of the hipster echoes the emergence of the Great Recession hipster in 2008, both fueled by a nostalgic search for an easier era.

Indie sleaze also represents a thirst for fun after economic distress. Lee explained to Vogue that 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."

The post-recession hipster is back

Gen Z's love for indie sleaze isn't just about reckless, post-lockdown euphoria. It's a search for a simpler era, one uninhibited by social media and adult expenses.

As Isabel Slone wrote for 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."

The youth often becomes nostalgic during economic hardship, seeking comfort and connection. Such was the case for Gen Z, who is adjusting to the realities of adult life in the middle of a global health crisis. They were the hardest-hit generation in the labor force . Even a year into the pandemic, recent college grads were having the toughest time finding jobs. Plus, many were forced to attend school remotely and socialize almost exclusively through their phones.

@oldloserinbrooklyn Trend forecast: indie sleaze revival #trendcycle #nostalgia #tumblrfashion #indiekid ♬ Sex and the City (Main Theme) - TV Sounds Unlimited

As a coping mechanism, they reminisced about the '90s and early 2000s, when social media didn't yet exist, Michael Pankowski, the founder of the Gen Z marketing consulting firm Crimson Connection, previously told Insider. To them, that unplugged lifestyle is a novelty.

"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's similar to the hipster take-off around the time of the 2008 financial crisis. While hipsterdom existed as far back as the late 1940s in various iterations, the subculture was commodified during the Great Recession as college students began to lean toward "indie rock or '80s nostalgia," as Racked put it — elder millennials' way of seeking simpler times as the economy crumbled. Brands like American Apparel and Urban Outfitters capitalized on the trend, bringing it mainstream.

It seems that when a recession hits, hipsters unite. This time, Gen Z is leading the way.