Logo mania, the cult of low-rise pants and the essential It Bags
If there was one moment that summed up fashion in the early 2000s, it was when Jennifer Lopez wore a Versace chiffon dress to the 42nd annual Grammy Awards in February 2000, and the world changed.
Her neckline, which extends below her navel, has shocked the world - but how does it hold? What does it look like from the side? Everyone wants to see this dress! So much so that it inspired Google Image Search. And so began a decade of digital fashion consumption.
The decade was ruled by stars known as "aughts" and "naughts" (the former used in the United States, the latter in the United Kingdom). Reality TV shows prolifered, blogs were filled with paparazzi photos, and Twitter in 2006 gave fans front-of-home access to the lives and thoughts of their favorite celebrities, often without the intervention of publicists.
In terms of mainstream fashion, it was a decade of vulgar to almost good taste. Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears sported matching jeans, Juicy Couture tracksuits, Von Dutch trucker hats and Ed Hardy's tattooed Tee.
On the runway, Logo mania prevails, with designers such as Tom Ford, Donatella Versace, Roberto Cavalli and Herve Leger injecting sexy elements into their collections. Here's a quick look at the trends of the early 21st century.
Women's fashion trends of the 2000s
Handbags are trendy
If the eyes are the window to the soul, then by the year 2000, the handbag was also the window to the soul. Thanks in part to Carrie Bradshaw, handbags have become the focus of clothing. In 1997, Fendi introduced the Baguette bag (according to fashion lore, the bag was designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi, which was initially unpopular with the Fendi design team because they were concerned that it was too personal for the minimalist fashion era), The Baguette became an instant hit and is considered the first It Bag in the fashion industry. Bradshaw, of course, was also known for carrying Baguette bags on numerous occasions during his six seasons on Sex and the City.
In the 2000s, every brand had a hot handbag (or two) that the fashion world rushed to carry. As mentioned earlier, Fendi launched the carb-inspired Baguette bag; In 2001, Balenciaga introduced the lazy biker bag designed by then creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere; In 2005, Chloe launched the bohemian-inspired Paddington bag designed by Phoebe Philo, then its creative director; Galliano debuted a saddle bag at Dior's spring/Summer 2000 fashion show. Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, through a clever collaboration, launched one It bag after another. Artists were invited to use Louis Vuitton's famous lettering: Stephen Sprouse's graffiti collection in 2001; In 2003, Takashi Murakami launched a collection of smiley flowers and cherries. These bags are eye-catching, expressive, and the focus of fashion!
In 2002, Sarah Mower described the rise of the It Bag in the October issue of Vogue: "Around 1993, fashionable women everywhere wanted the same thing (Kate Spade's shopping bag, Prada's sports backpack) at the same time. Then came the pursuit of exotic hides and cloth varieties (standard shaped bags now also come with personalized patterns). Before long, thanks to Gucci, Prada, Fendi and Dior, we started buying whole wardrobs of bags as instant trophies."
Logo mania hits
All of the aforementioned It bags come with a Logo, but it doesn't stop there! Dior's bikini featured a diagonal monogram; Burberry plaid just about everything that can be plaid; Gucci's double-G buckle; Marc Jacobs even painted the neon pink Louis Vuitton logo on his nude body, inspired by Louis Vuitton's collaboration with Stephen Sprouse in 2008. If there's room for early-2000s fashion to spare, it's Letter City.
People are mocking the supertrend; In March 2000, Helmut Newton made a spectacular "Branded "series for Vogue in which he covered model Angela Lindvall's bikini with the logos of all the big fashion brands in a motley mix of letters and ICONS, Chanel's double C and Fendi's double F are intertwined to create a meaningless logo. As early as the late 1980s, Dapper Dan cut Gucci clothing bags into jackets, becoming a wonderful reproduction of luxury.
The emphasis on handbags has spawned a growing market for counterfeit handbags, and the identification industry has been born. In May 2001, Vogue reported on the problem: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but not the most fashionable." Who do you call when you've spent a fortune on the latest leather Logo bag, but suspect it's a fake? David Colman meets fashion's new crime fighters: the authenticator.
Low-rise pants are all the rage: How low can they go?
The rise of low-rise trousers is thanks to Alexander McQueen. Although low-rise trousers reached their peak in the 1980s, the designer debuted tailbone exposed low-rise trousers in his 1993 Taxi Driver collection, his first after graduating from Central Saint Martins, and again in his spring/summer 1995 collection.
About five years later, the trend became fully mainstream. (In 2001, even Levi's introduced a line of ultra-low jeans.) Britney Spears is a well-known advocate of the baring trend.
The popularity of low-rise dresses also coincides with the popularity of jeans for various occasions. Although it was only in the 1970s that we had designer denim, brands continued to introduce denim: diamond-encrusted denim, milled denim, painted denim with floral patterns.
"Designer Jeans: Can we count how many ways in which we love them?" Sarah Mower wrote in the September 2001 issue of Vogue. "They sway and spin. With countless cuts, rinses and textures, break into unheard of social strata. Jeans can be street and ladylike, or dressed-up and understated. They are suitable for everyday wear. Jeans can also be worn in black dress. They are both fantasy and reality."
Boho chic - Layered outfits for celebrities
In the mid-10s, two forces came together to create a new trend. In the United States, after Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen retired from the teen idol movies (the last film, Time in New York, was released in 2004), the sisters busied themselves with creating a fresh and unique look that inspired dozens of imitators. In the UK, Sienna Miller's Bohemian style is causing a stir: more festive chic, fewer layers.
From a fashion perspective, the sum of this look is greater than its parts. It is a movement that is more about styling than individual pieces: peasant dresses with puddle jeans over them, a cardigan, a nonfunctional belt (preferably perforated); And a tight wire scarf.
In addition to the Olsens and Miller, there are Kate Moss, Mischa Barton, Nicole Richie and other notable followers. It is said that the driving force behind this style, like Oz, is not the fashion designer but the Los Angeles-based stylist Rachel Zoe, although Phoebe Philo did send extra elongated scarves for Chloe's spring/summer 2005 collection.
Galaxy Dress & Bandage dress
While jeans and It bags were the dominant theme of the decade, some new trends were born on the catwalk, especially for women who needed something more sophisticated, like a full-dress.
Roland Mouret first unveiled the "Galaxy" dress at his spring 2006 fashion show, and it went viral despite the fact that before the advent of social media, there was no TikTok or Instagram.
"You open a newspaper or a magazine and you see one young Hollywood star after another wearing this sexy, curvy dress: Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Diaz, Rachel Weisz, Keira Knightley, Nicole Kidman, So much so, it's almost a joke." The designer added: "Wear it and you look like an icon."
The dress, which comes in as many colors as a Pantone card, comes in a double layer of wool crepe that clings to the body like a second skin. The silhouette is tied below the knee or at the knee and waist to tighten at the waist, with a square neckline and sculptural cap sleeves. Like the jeans in "sisters of the Traveling Pants," the dress is very flattering.
Mouret is not the only designer to create sheath dresses. At this time, Herve Leger's bandage dress, relaunched in April 2007 by Max Azria, wrapped women like the mummies of Metropolitan fashion. At the time, no red carpet was complete without a bandage dress.
