From Naples to London, the Y2K archive according to Pezze Vintage

It's been two years since miniskirts, low waisted jeans and a discreet yet naive sensuality made up of rhinestones, glitter and girlish motifs, landed on TikTok, attracting the full attention of Gen Z. Since then, thanks to it-girls such as Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa or Alexa Demie and a newfound interest in all those celebrities who made our childhood memories iconic (such as JLO, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears), the Millennium Bug aesthetic has returned with arrogance in the collective imagination and in our wardrobes, no matter how much effort we put into getting rid of it at the time. The return of Y2K, even before the catwalks of Miu Miu, Blumarine and Balenciaga, started from the bottom, from a target of teenage consumers who seemed to discover for the first time bellybuttons uncovered on social networks and who, thanks to vintage made in Depop, Vinted, E-bay, approached the distressed jackets of Diesel, the loud patterns of Roberto Cavalli, the low-rise denim of Miss Sixty. «There was a need for something different. Something that was other than the flannel shirts and Levi's 501s that have exacerbated vintage shop shelves for years. The return of Y2K was born out of a desire to break away from the second-hand goods we used to buy» explains Gennaro Boccia, founder and owner of Pezze Vintage. A second hand shop with double headquarters in Naples and London, which since 2017 has been forecasting trends in vintage to satisfy a loyal clientele, selecting garments that are far from the usual big brands and therefore capable of telling something new and unexpected compared to the dominant aesthetics.

«Today, thanks to social media, nostalgia and a new sensitivity towards circular fashion, vintage has acquired a very large slice of the market», goes on Gennaro. It is therefore not surprising that in the race for the perfect vintage piece, trends from the early 2000s have taken the top spot in terms of popularity: according to a report by clothing retailer Nasty Gal, demand for 'vintage clothing shops' has increased by more than 400% in the last year in the US, and the most sought-after era is undoubtedly 'Y2K'. Among the most sought-after brands are Just Cavalli, D&G, Moschino Jeans, Diesel Industry, and Engineered by Levi's, joined by the unexpected revival of the tacky chic aesthetic of '00s mall brands, including zippered sweatshirts by Guess Jeans, the already mentioned Miss Sixty denim, as well as Ed Hardy, Baby Phat, and many others, with Poshmark reporting a surge in searches and Depop noting a 53% increase in clicks on Abercrombie & Fitch.

«The needs of vintage buyers have changed. If in the past enthusiasts were looking for the perfect wash, a particular dye, a precious material, today what young people are looking for is the dream. From nostalgia for eras never lived comes the desire to be part of a narrative that romanticized past decades by extrapolating their aesthetics», Gennaro concludes. The new consumers of vintage fashion are between 15 and 21 and dream of the adolescence of the past, often through garments that revive the Y2K aesthetic in a darker and more avant-garde declination than the one we know. In the wake of the TikTok-driven trend of Subversive Basics and Avant Apocalypse, a more brutal interpretation of the childhood atmosphere we associate with the period emerges. And so it is that between past and present, as in a narcissistic complex, fashion is self-generated, seeing in its past the reflection of future collections and vice versa, and archive fashion proves to be an endless treasure of references and trends.