We’ve all been reading the same headlines for weeks, maybe even months: What comes after Y2K? According to Milan Fashion Week, so far, it’s more Y2K. Much more Y2K.
After the start of Fashion Week in New York with a show celebrating the Baguette bag, Kim Jones returned to Milan to showcase the SS23 collection and it looked like the same Fendi girl got on the plane with her. She stepped out of line at the club, took off the fluffy hat that covered almost her whole face and the metallic blue suit that cinched down to her stomach!, and slipped into something more comfortable for work. But she’s still planning to step out afterwards, because why else would she style an asymmetric fur coat, with a Fendi satin belt tied in a bow at the back, over her sheer organza dress and vivid ankle boots. apple green platform?
“Fendi women are strong women with full and busy lives,” Jones said in a statement about the show, which was meant to be about functional and practical luxury. It seems the woman he’s designing for has a long to-do list with a social calendar booked weeks in advance, but like the rest of us right now, all she really wants is to be teleported to a time that isn’t 2022. Jones’ inspiration for the collection was Karl Lagerfeld’s work for the brand from 1996 to 2002. He even reimagined in neon a floral print from the Fendi archives along with an old logo from 2000, and sprinkled it with dresses from silk – some with bright underwear to match. down.
A model wearing Fendi Raver pants.
A model wearing a dress embellished with an archival Fendi floral print and logo from 2000, reimagined for today.
The collection had all the Y2K hits that have dominated the trend cycle for the past year or so: silk raver pants, mini bags so small they look like chunky bracelets worn tightly around the wrist, platform wedges as long as you feel the need. to remove them almost immediately (which one model actually did, halfway through her walk).
A model takes off her Fendi platform mid-walk.
If Fendi’s show envisioned a Y2K aesthetic so luxurious you probably wouldn’t want to sweat it out in a club, Diesel’s show, which ran right after, felt more like what you’d see at Brooklyn Mirage (the massive, bi-level, outdoor Bushwick music venue where the brand threw a party during NYFW to celebrate its FW22 capsule collection with The Webster.) Actually, it was kind of a buzz. The show was open to the public and about 5,000 people attended, 70% of whom Diesel said were under 25.
The Diesel runway show, where models walked beneath the world’s largest inflatable sculpture.
And while Silvia Venturini Fendi said in the Fendi show notes, “It all comes from talking about the double F that makes us see things in pairs,” Diesel’s show took the duality a step further with a set in track with two major pairs engaged in a foursome. is depicted in what is, according to Guinness World Records, the largest inflatable sculpture in the world. In a press release after the show, Glenn Martens said people “deserve a show,” and one they got — along with a hand-blown glass plug that came with every invitation. Julia Fox even sat front row in a bright blue denim PVC mini and dyed her hair to match.
A model wearing a denim two-piece set with matching knee-high denim boots.
A model wearing a set of acid-wash denim woven with lace.
In Diesel’s democracy, citizens wear denim. A lot of denim. Lace interlaced denim, tulle layered denim, croc-print coated denim. For anyone who can’t wrap their head around the early-style low-rise jean trend, Diesel offered some alternative—albeit equally divisive—favorites from the same era: acid-wash spaghetti strap mini dresses, logo printed breast tube, fringe boucle coat. Everything seemed sad and imperfect; it’s the kind of worn-out fashion Gen Z spends hours searching for savings so they can wear the part of someone who grew up before hashtags.
However, in Marten’s world, “Everyone can be a part of Diesel.” And if they’re all part Diesel, that means we all have to get used to the Y2K look. Maybe that’s good. It’s still 2022, but the pandemic is at least slowing down in a few years, which means we’ll finally be able to wear raver silk pants on a real tour and then in person to the office.
Tara Gonzalez is the senior fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Previously, she was a style writer In stylefounder of trade editor at Glamour, and fashion editor at Coveter.
