Trashcore is Hollywood's newest favorite trend From Justin Bieber to Addison Rae

If you look closely at the latest paparazzi shots around Hollywood, it almost feels like being transported back to the mid-2000s, when celebrities, in their downtime, seemed entirely unaware of the existence of stylists outside of work commitments. A chaotic style—the mischievous twin of the glamorous, over-the-top Y2K aesthetic—has once again taken over the wardrobes of many American entertainment figures, a sector that, truth be told, isn’t going through its brightest moment. But unlike what happened twenty years ago, today’s aesthetic revival isn’t the result of neglect or spontaneity.

It is no longer about natural sloppiness dictated by a need for privacy or by the desire to draw a clear line between the public persona and private life. On the contrary, every detail is now calculated. The Wall Street Journal has dubbed this trend “trashcore”, while Dazed offered an even more targeted take, calling it “quirked-up white boy.” Although a definitive name has yet to emerge, the idea is clear: dressing like the fringe slacker character from an early 2000s rom-com, but with a far more fashion-forward sensibility.

Timothée Chalamet’s Trashcore

The return of this style comes as a reaction to years of quiet luxury and a fashion landscape dominated by beige, minimalism, and neutral tones, pushing back against one of the most urgent challenges in today’s creative industries: the rise of aesthetic conservatism. Among the most prominent figures championing trashcore are Timothée Chalamet and Addison Rae. During the press tour for A Complete Unknown, Chalamet showcased, both on red carpets and in paparazzi shots, a style completely different from his past.

If during the Dune and Wonka era he embraced a sophisticated, experimental elegance — especially in the role of Paul Atreides — over the past year, through a kind of “Bob Dylan-fication”, he has taken a decisively more eclectic direction. This is thanks in part to his collaboration with stylist Taylor McNeill, responsible for all his viral looks of the past year: from the Telfar-Chanel-Arcteryx hybrid worn on Saturday Night Live to the combination of Chanel and a pink skinny scarf by Bibi Star for the Paris premiere of the biopic.

Addison Rae as the Gen Z Experimental Style Icon

When it comes to Addison Rae, the fashion system’s new favorite starlet, the conversation becomes even more layered. For red carpets and official events, Rae collaborates with Dara Allen, model, stylist, and fashion editor at Interview Magazine. But it’s in her street style that the true essence of her trashcore emerges: every public appearance echoes the most iconic era of Britney Spears, between In the Zone and Blackout.

Among her most talked-about outfits is the one worn at the release party for her second single, Aquamarine: a seashell-shaped bra, azure fishnet tights, a faux-fur shawl, and oversized white sunglasses by Jacques Marie Mage. A look so deliberately exaggerated that it even inspired the Halloween costume of her friend Troye Sivan, who literally dressed up as her. But Addison Rae’s style evolution doesn’t end with 2000s nostalgia. The result is an aesthetic that constantly moves between pop and performance, between studied kitsch and citation-heavy high fashion.

Justin Bieber’s Chaotic Street Style

And when talking about trashcore, Justin Bieber is impossible to ignore. In recent years, he has made this aesthetic his signature (to the point that he has been accused on social media of struggling with substance issues). What many assumed to be Bieber’s downfall seems instead to be a new beginning: after countless paparazzi shots documenting the popstar’s chaotic style, Bieber used the invasion of privacy he’s so accustomed to as a teaser for his upcoming brand SKYLRK, seemingly built around a “calculated-chaos” aesthetic infused with streetwear influences, oversized tracksuits, chunky sunglasses, and brightly colored beanies — items that have skyrocketed in searches on Depop and Grailed, as reported by Highsnobiety.

The brand, created under the eye of his current stylist Jenna Tyson, takes to the extreme the oversized silhouette that has defined his personal trashcore: floor-sweeping cargo pants, jerseys reminiscent of early-2000s basketball uniforms, and flat-soled sneakers inspired by skate culture. As Bieber confirmed on Instagram, he has officially abandoned his first brand Drew House to distance himself from an aesthetic that has become too mainstream and return to the spontaneity of his earliest oversized looks — capitalizing on Gen Z’s hunger for messy authenticity, something we also saw last year with the trend of “chaotic customization”. It seems the trashcore mania has only just begun.