Y2K isn’t just a random collection of letters and numbers, it's an abbreviation for the year 2000. The Y2K trend is a resurgence of the fashions popular at the turn of the century - roughly the late nineties to the early 2000s.

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Fashion trends and styles tend to vary wildly from decade to decade - in the 50s skirts were hooped and full, in the 60s they were slim and elegant. The hyper-femininity of Y2K fashion is a response to the almost masculine grunge aesthetics of the nineties. Gone were the apathetic oversized lumberjack shirts and baggy jeans - replaced by hyper-aware mesh and slogan tank tops.

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The trend was influenced by the culture and politics at the turn of the century. Fluffy cuffs and matching plaid sets were made iconic in movies such as Mean Girls and Clueless, whereas the dot.com boom and an increasingly mechanized society were reflected in Y2K’s futuristic amorphous shapes and robotic imagery. 

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The frenetic energy of Y2K fashion mirrored a world teetering between the analog and digital - pressing against the membrane of a promised technological utopia. The lurid colors and tricky textures suggest optimism about the future, tinged with an uncertainty borne by its alien nature.