Key Takeaways
- Flip telephones, like the long-lasting Motorola Razr, had been a significant development within the early 2000s and have made a comeback because of the recognition of Y2K vogue and TikTok micro-trends.
- Apple’s AirPods and AirPods Max have grow to be vogue icons, with their glossy, white design and wi-fi performance making them a staple accent for gym-goers, commuters, and younger urbanites.
- Wired headphones are additionally making a comeback as a vogue assertion, with Gen Z actress Jenna Ortega being named a “Wired It Woman” by Teen Vogue. Regardless of the rise of Bluetooth headphones, wired headphones have grow to be a logo of nonchalance and elegance.
Tech and fashion are powerhouse industries. And whereas any overlap of the 2 industries may appear blurry, know-how and vogue are inextricably linked, not solely on the subject of manufacturing, however of their presentation and cultural impression. From 2000s it-girl Paris Hilton because the face of Motorola’s 2024 Razr to 2016’s Met Gala theme, Manus x Machina: Style in an Age of Know-how, and even a faux baby covered in computer chips at Paris Style Week 2024, we discovered seven instances tech and vogue crossed wires and cultural boundaries collectively.
1 The flip cellphone is core Y2K aesthetic
And it is coming again
Arguably, the early 2000s marked the period when tech went from clunky to pocketable — ushered in by the long-lasting flip cellphone. With a easy clamshell design, just a few keys, and no digital camera, the flip-phone reigned lengthy earlier than the smartphone. And whereas smartphones could rule in performance, they don’t seem to be almost as enjoyable or trendy. Notably, the queen of clunky belts and clutch purses, Paris Hilton, was a significant a part of the Motorola Razr launch in 2004, and from there, flip telephones appeared to grow to be an iconic tween and teenage woman accent.
In 2020, the rise of TikTok made dances, Y2K vogue developments, and content material creation a viral sensation. With the unfold of “micro-trends,” Y2K vogue, like low-rise denims, shiny colours, metallic supplies, and baguette baggage, and sure, flip telephones had been all “in” once more. Huge names within the tech business adopted swimsuit. Samsung and Motorola launched the Flip and Rar+ collection, respectively.
Whereas Samsung’s Flip, debuting in 2020, was probably in manufacturing properly earlier than Y2K vogue made its huge comeback, the next releases of the flip focused content material creators in search of performance that complemented their general Y2K aesthetic. Samsung even partnered with Euphoria star, Sydney Sweeney, to advertise the Flip 5.
Modern flip phones aren’t the dumb flip phone Gen Z is nostalgic for
Gen Z is not answering the smartphone business’s name to make retro tech sensible.
2 AirPods and the “cut-off” earbuds look
The stems weren’t for everybody
Pocket-lint
Apple has a model loyalty like no different, one which many vogue manufacturers — from luxurious homes to shops — try for. This excessive loyalty is especially evident on the subject of iPhones, but additionally, Apple’s in-ear buds. As soon as critiqued by techies and fashion-lovers alike for trying like “cut off headphones“, Apple’s AirPods and their stems have now achieved icon standing and at present grace the ears of gymnasium rats, commuters, travelers, and professionals alike.
Strolling round and dwelling in an enormous metropolitan space like New York Metropolis, it is exhausting to not see everybody has AirPods hanging out of their ears.
By all three iterations, after which for the previous two Professional generations, the AirPods have solely been rising in reputation, probably as a result of their glossy, white look that does not conflict with any outfit. They’ve grow to be a streetwear staple.
I replaced my AirPods Max with these $9 Temu headphones, and here’s how it went
It won’t be a direct comparability, however Temu knock-offs held their very own in look and efficiency. And so they even beat AirPods in a single necessary space.
3 Over-ears are in every single place
Gen Z’s unofficial uniform
Renee Rapp by way of Instagram
Apple’s in-ear buds aren’t the one vogue sensation proper now, however its over-ear AirPods Max have instantly grow to be a part of Gen Z’s unofficial “uniform.” In late 2023, a TikTok development even went viral displaying customers how they might “costume like they had been from New York’s Decrease East Aspect” to realize a cool aesthetic.
The AirPods Max themselves do have a really futuristic look with their stainless-steel end and mesh headband and even paved the way in which for all-over-ear headphones to be en vogue, particularly for younger of us dwelling in cities.
4 Wired headphones say ‘I am unable to be bothered’
Jenna Ortega is our Wired It Woman
Pocket-lint
Earlier than Bluetooth, there have been wired headphones, and just like the flip cellphone, they’re making a comeback. Wired headphones themselves did not supply a contemporary take or added performance. They merely simply turned a “look.” Gen Z Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega was even deemed a “Wired It Girl” by Teen Vogue alongside different celebrities like Bella Hadid, a lot of whom seemingly forecasted the wired headphone development all the way in which again in 2019.
I went back to wired headphones in 2024, and here’s how it went
Whereas wired headphones have been largely changed by Bluetooth over or in-ears, I nonetheless assume they’re the unsung heroes of music and audio.
Whereas on no account probably the most sensible resolution, the return of wired headphones is maybe an much more pronounced means of signaling to onlookers that you may’t be bothered, particularly now that Bluetooth headphones have grow to be much more refined.
5 Smartwatches are greater than timepieces
Well being-tracking mini computer systems
Hermes/ Apple
Apple, Fitbit, Google, and Garmin are just some of the large names which have revolutionized what was an adjunct and made it right into a health-tracking mini pc we put on on our wrists. Nevertheless sensible, these watches and trackers had been firstly a cultured, and should I even say, timeless vogue staple. Whereas there could also be some argument over whether or not smartwatches look as sensible as they carry out, huge title designers and attire manufacturers like Hermes, Nike, and Fossil have all partnered with tech manufacturers to make aesthetic timepieces.
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Customizing your Apple Watch goes past the software program. Full your wrist wearable with snug, trendy, and budget-friendly bands.
Moreover, jewellery manufacturers like Michele, Kate Spade, and Gorjana have all made bracelet-like bands to pair with sensible units. There are numerous third-party manufacturers and boutiques on Amazon and Etsy that make distinctive bands to additional fashion wrist health trackers.
6 Sensible glasses get a lift from huge manufacturers
Ray-Ban fashion
Particularly for my technology, seeing sensible glasses on the cabinets makes us really feel like Cookie from Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified Faculty Survival Information succeeded in creating the proper prototype (if you understand, you understand). Whereas sensible glasses will not be fully as much as par with how sizzling smartwatches had been at their debut, huge title manufacturers like Ray Ban and Carrera are partnering with Meta and Amazon, respectively, to create sensible glasses that seem like an adjunct with added smarts fairly than a clunky eyesore.
Once we examined Meta’s Ray-Ban sensible glasses, we thought they seemed nice, and with the brand new Wayfair body fashion, seemed trendy even other than its audio and visible capabilities.
7 Robotic vogue
Schiaperelli by way of Instagram
In a world stuffed with ChatGPT and the discharge of the probably transformative Apple Vision Pro VR headset, it comes as no shock that helmets, metallic supplies, physique armor, and even bodily robots have entered the style chat (and pink carpet).
Gigi and Zayn on the 2016 Met Gala
On the tech-themed 2016 Met Gala, for instance, former it-couple mannequin Gigi Hadid and ex-One Path member Zayn Malik seemed like a shocking robotic couple. Malik, whereas in any other case in a easy Versace swimsuit, embellished the clean-cut look with silver robotic arms across the sleeves.
Equally, Hadid’s silver and sheer Tommy Hilfiger costume by itself appeared like a extra refined nod to the theme, however paired with the lengthy metallic rings on her fingers, the couple’s fingers undoubtedly gave homage to a terminator-like period. Maybe it was a social commentary on how, with the age of smartphones, our fingers are turning into an extension of know-how — and our know-how, even an extension of us.
Schiaparelli’s bejeweled robotic child
I am certain you will have recycled outdated know-how like an iPod, MP3 player, and even vinyl, however Schiaparelli’s artistic director, Daniel Roseberry, transformed pre-2007 vogue in an ultra-unique means throughout this 12 months’s Paris Style Week. Showstopping the carpet, a mannequin in all white garments with solely a pop of gorgeous emerald earrings carried a pretend child coated in outdated motherboards, flip telephones, CDs, wires, and calculators in a maternal method.
As to what impressed this nostalgia-studded and stunning show, Roseberry claims it is a artistic response to a viral development. “Lots of people on TikTok have been taking AI and turning my collections into digital collections and seeing who wore it greatest, so I used to be pondering, the one card I’ve to play now’s actually my reminiscences,” Roseberry mentioned in an interview with WWD.
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