Not Just A Fad: A Zillennial’s Perspective Of The Millennium Bug In Comparison To Cybercore
Being a ‘97-born Zillennial, I got to observe my sisters, who were born in 1987 and 1991, live out the 2000s lifestyle. From 2004 to 2008, I got to see my older sister go on a full-on Paris Hilton fantasy while my second oldest had a punk and rock normcore vibe. We all grew up watching music videos and shows like The O.C. and Boiling Points on MTV. Heck, even I got to enjoy Britney Spears CDs, jamming to the 2000 hit Oops!… I Did It Again. Living through this period, I think it’s no exaggeration to say that the early 2000s was fun and nonchalant. Seeing my sisters live out their early 2000s, I think it’s no surprise why we find ourselves back to the 2000s.
Historically, the year 2000 had everyone on the edge of their seats with the Y2K bug. From being a potential computer error, it turned into newfound tech optimism. We were seeing the creation of Facebook, YouTube, the iPod, and many more. Y2K also celebrated space milestones like landing on the International Space Station and the Mars Exploration Rovers. These milestones contributed to fashion styles that included metallics, bright colours, and everything encrusted in rhinestones. (Think Destiny’s Child’s metallic get-up for MTV’s TRL Tour in 2001 and Paris Hilton’s bejewelled Sidekick.) Growing up, I had no inkling as to whether or not this lifestyle would have its glorious resurgence in the future until I found myself in 2020 under pandemic lockdown.
As COVID shrouded our everyday lives, we yearned to turn back time, especially the late 90s and early 2000s when people were living in excess. I mean — we have always been going back to past eras pre-COVID but with COVID, this longing got amplified tenfold. However, TikTok provided a form of escapism that people craved for. This marked the beginning of TikTok’s influence on lifestyle as well as fashion. From Dalgona recipes to work-from-home fashion, these short-form content were all the rage throughout the pandemic. As we bade goodbye to majority of COVID’s terrors, TikTok micro trends skyrocketed. The feed popularised brands like Diesel and Blumarine, as well as every fashion aesthetic possible by placing “core” behind any word/genre such as gorpcore, cottagecore, fairycore.
Under the TikTok “core” umbrella lies Cybercore but it’s not really new. Maria Santa Poggi from NYLON coined cybercore to be “a mixture of futuristic and sci-fi-inspired fashion that’s also nostalgic for the past”. We see an amalgamation of old digital and internet culture of the late 90s and early 2000s. We go back to styles that mimic the cult 1995 film The Matrix draped in leather, PVC and chrome. There’s also a tribute to the millennium, where bright colours, 2000s music videos, and metallic fabrics are in trend once again.
What sets this Cybercore era apart from Y2K is its relevance with the time we live in. The cybercore definition has Nowstalgia in its core. According to Madwell, Nowstalgia is a sense of the past and the future in the present. It is a longing to live in the past by people who have never actually lived it. Adding the TikTok algorithm into the mix drives Gen Z-ers to infuse their fave micro trends from the past into their daily wear. Gen Z’ers are bringing back old tech faves like digicams (in true Kardashian style) and wired headphones not for utility but for fashion. Thrift hauls and secondhand shopping are also on the rise. With the want to protect the Earth from climate change, thrifting gives garments a new lease of life while also being environmentally friendly.
Additionally, mixing and matching different aesthetics brings about the idea of fashion pluralism. Young-Ok Choi said in his study A Study on the Pluralism Expressed in Modern Fashion that fashion pluralism is the collapsing and merging of genres, which embrace the variety in time and internationalism. Due to its inclusion of both art and deconstructive anti-fashion aesthetics, the definition of art and fashion becomes more blurry and diverse. Greg Tallent mentioned that our culturally diverse society today paved the way for an array of styles. Today’s fashion is not just styles set in time, but provides endless stylistic variations. It’s wearing something according to your own curated fashion code.
Access to fashion has never been easier but it comes at a cost. Compared to the Millennials who ruled the 2000s, Gen Z fights more for climate change while still wanting to be fashionable. With high inflation in the mix, it gives a reason for this generation to shop sustainably. The flip side of this, however, is that the fast fashion industry has Gen Z in a chokehold. They were surrounded by fast fashion brands like H&M, Forever 21, and ZARA ever since they were born. Shein, the fast fashion behemoth, pumps out up to 1000 on-trend designs daily for cheap (major bag alert). With cheaper and on-demand options around, the whole generation is in shambles. If Gen Z continues to give into fast fashion’s cheap thrills, there may not be an end to this overconsumption. However, continuously hopping onto every micro trend would leave the Gen Z-ers fatigued. One might suggest a circular approach to curb the damage of the fashion industry but it’s not enough. Sustainable clothing will always be a tad expensive compared to their fast fashion counterparts. In times of high inflation, Gen Z-ers can’t refrain from fast fashion prices even if they know someone is being unfairly treated down the supply chain.
As Gen Z figures out the balance between spending satisfaction and ethical values, they’re currently living in a present that’s making leaps in tech again. We’ve seen metaverse runways, Loewe’s structured pixelated tops and skirts, and MSCHF’s Big Red Boots. Apart from putting 2010s 2D novelty bags to shame, these new high-tech creations provide a commentary on today’s obsession with hyper-reality and AI. We also can’t help but to think it’s also an homage to toys and cartoon heroes in the past like dress-up sites, Polly Pocket and Astro Boy. MSCHF further explained that the boots’ “cartoonishness is an abstraction that frees us from the constraints of reality”. The world of AI also questions our perception of reality, with AI being able to mimic peak photography (proven by Boris Eldagsen) and student essays with ChatGPT. Just like the year 2000, we gained ground on space exploration with the James Webb Space Telescope, discovering exoplanets and capturing data of galaxies colliding.
Gen Z is definitely shedding new light onto how we view fashion today. With its uncanny resemblances in technological advancements and aesthetics, it’s safe to say that Cybercore is like the 2000s, adapted into a 2020s setting. The TikTok algorithm works double time, putting 2020s maximalism on overdrive. As fashion pluralism and AI permeates throughout this decade, we could see the end of the micro trend. We could also see the disruption of the cyclical 20-year fashion throwback. Roland Barthes mentioned how fashion is heavily involved with culture and its different meanings it holds. No matter how ethical Gen Z or even Gen Alpha are, capitalism still reigns supreme unless there’s a pivotal change in the future. We can only have hope in Gen Z, Gen Alpha and the economical landscape to provide a better environment to make room for ethical and fashionable choices.
