Y2K is an aesthetic that was prevalent in pop culture from roughly 1997 to 2004. It is characterised by a distinctive aesthetic era, encompassing fashion, hardware design, music, and interiors gleaming with tech optimism, and is named after the Y2K Bug. Tight leather leggings, glittering clothes, silver makeup, and spiky updos are a few of the trends characteristics. The aesthetic is typically categorised as a subgenre of retro-futurism, another futuristic aesthetic. Since it shares vaporwave’s frustration with late-stage capitalism and its longing for a future that already existed, several aspects of Y2K also share characteristics with this other retro-futurist aesthetic. However, the Vaporwave community has not yet explored the Y2K aesthetic to the same extent as earlier, more popular eras, such as the neon aesthetics of the late 80s/early 90s, like Memphis and Synthwave.
The underground UK rave scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as the early works of the Sheffield-based Designers Republic, was where Y2K had its start. Around 1995 to 1996 saw the first signs of the Y2K style become widely popular, including the release of Windows 95, the beginning of the internet boom, the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64, the films Hackers and Scream, the PS1 game Wipeout, and the Japanese release of Pokemon. And it was a massive time for the music scene, the Spice Girls, and Backstreet Boys debuting in Europe, and the music video for Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream”.
I feel like this trend is constantly making a comeback because it’s still heavily involved in the mainstream media. A lot of celebrities are still wearing UGGs, Vintage Ed Hardy, Vintage Tommy Hilfiger and Juicy Couture. Cargo trousers and crop tops have been trending throughout the year so the Y2K influence still lingers.
The rise of the internet inspired the futuristic, forward thinking looks that are correlated from the late 90s/ early 2000s look. Like “The Matrix” look that is constantly replicated, on runways and through movies. An iconic moment for the aesthetic was Christian Dior’s autumn 1999 couture presentation, where slick vinyl and angular forms predominated, would be considered a seminal moment for the style. The head designer, John Galliano, said he was “very inspired by The Matrix” and created “dresses that are terrible, evil” as a result.
