While TikTok and Generation Z have long pushed for a resurgence of late ’90s and Y2K fashion, the ‘Quiet Luxury’ trend has in some ways put a damper on hedonism and refocused attention on the minimal. However, this should now end. According to Stylight, an online fashion search platform, “2024 suddenly feels like 2010” because the revival of the ‘indie sleaze’ trend means you no longer have to bow to the pressures and idealism of social media – even if the trend is was rediscovered right there. Born somewhere between the Glastonbury music festival and the social media platform Tumblr and carried forward by the It girls of the early 2010s, the ‘indie sleaze’ aesthetic is a little chaotic, grungy and, above all, captured in flash photography .
While some of the most questionable fashion trends of ‘indie sleaze’, like mustache-themed T-shirts, are unlikely to be part of the trend revival, Stylight has the browsing and shopping behavior of Stylight’s 90 million annual users as well as Google -Search queries analyzed to find out which trends are returning from the indie sleaze era and defining the modern update of the aesthetic.
Band t-shirts and ‘Brit rock energy’
The ‘indie sleaze’ trend was inextricably linked to music, not least because many of the era’s muses, from Kate Moss to Alexa Chung, were involved with musicians such as Pete Doherty and Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner. For those who weren’t romantically involved with a band member, the band shirt was the next best option. Symbolic of the ‘indie sleaze’ then as now, the resurgence of the trend is once again clearing the stage for band shirts, and with success. Compared to last year, demand for band t-shirts on Stylight has increased by 49 percent.
Alternatively, for a touch of nonchalant Brit-rock energy, as Stylight calls it, the striped T-shirt is also considered a fashion pillar of the ‘indie sleaze’ trend. Demand for the comparably simple basic has recently increased by 132 percent on the search platform. Both tops, as well as the controversial but increasingly popular peplum top, are combined with low-rise jeans. While peplum tops still have to actually establish themselves with a search query increase of 19 percent, low-slung trousers have already more than earned their comeback with an increase of 132 percent. If the pants don’t hang low, then they are probably tailored in the form of tiny shorts, ideally worn over tights. Requests for tights with shorts are up 15 percent year-on-year, not least because they are a wearable solution to the “no pants” trend that emerged at the end of last year.
Outerwear as a focal point of the ‘Indie Sleaze’ trend
Hardly any other aesthetic is as defined by its outerwear as the ‘Indie Sleaze’ movement. The trend’s eye-catching outerwear cements the end of the ‘Quiet Luxury’ era. Coats and jackets are loud and nostalgic, especially the leopard coat as a 70-year classic. Searches for the animal coat have seen a 19 percent increase compared to last year. Much like a leopard-print coat, leather jackets have long been a classic and at the heart of indie sleaze style. The popularity of leather jackets has increased by 21 percent at Stylight since last year, with colored leather such as dark purple, green and red in particular being the focus this season. (Faux) fur jackets also deserve a mention, as they saw a 15 percent increase in Google searches last month.
One coat that has unexpectedly come back into the spotlight is the Afghan coat, also known as the Penny Lane coat. Its nostalgic silhouette, the diverse color palette and the characteristic details such as the collar and sleeves, which are often lined with Tibetan lambskin, make it a unique piece that is strongly reminiscent of the 60s and 70s.