Bucket hats, shirts, tap shoes or Crocs… these clothes hated by everyone have been making their mark on the trendiest closets for some time now. We never thought we’d see them on the catwalks and yet… luxury brands and houses are taking over popular and outdated pieces to reinvent them and make them available in all styles. Dior collaborates with Birkenstock (these sandals have long been compared to orthopedic shoes, yes…), Louis Vuitton and Fendi accessorize their models with bobs or bananas, the garden clog becomes a mainstream piece thanks to Givenchy or Aigle (in a more accessible version). But why is the panoply of the redneck mocked for years so in vogue?
This trend comes from the younger generation, which is closely followed by the brands because “youth initiates fashion and protest movements, seeks to appropriate power. Today cool is in the streets, on social networks… the fashion sphere, it looks at what is happening among young people and is inspired by it” explains Vincent Grégoire, Director of Consumer Trends & Insights for the agency of business strategy consultant Nelly Rodi, “Gen Z is ready to do anything to get noticed and doesn’t give a damn about “what will people say”.
The trend comes from the street
This generation is inspired today by the most influential people on social networks, namely Kendall Jenner, rappers and other football players. These personalities representative of “youth” culture have returned to ‘cheesy’ looks such as tap-socks. “They are the new icons of today and they don’t have the look of a pop star. We have lost this idea of the elegance attributed to celebrity. With these personalities with a casual look and the advent of streetwear in the years 2016, we are more attached than ever to comfort, ”explains Dinah Sultan, style director at Peclers, a consulting agency specializing in urban culture.
Pénélope Blanckaert, creative consultant in vintage and contemporary fashion, says that the Covid and the confinements have accentuated the tendency to want to feel good in one’s clothes. “When you’ve tasted comfort, pumps and pencil skirts, you don’t want them anymore”.
The habit does (really) not make the monk
But the trend also hides a more sociological explanation. “People are trying to refocus on simple things, we are increasingly returning to ‘basics’… we want to be less superficial, we are seduced by second-hand goods, second-hand clothes and EEmmaus where we find all kinds of shirts, bucket hats and tap shoes,” says Pénélope Blanckaert. The “beauf” look on products like the bob or the banana is “a very French heritage but which is running out of steam thanks to vintage” thinks Dinah Sultan. “These are pieces that have proven themselves! The hat protects the head very well, you sweat less in a shirt thanks to its airy side” explains Dinah Sultan.
This craze for vintage, “it’s also a way to access unique pieces, sometimes with materials of better quality, more original pieces…”, explains Vincent Grégoire. Clothing no longer has the same statuary role as before, beauty and style are much more subjective and we can no longer consider that clothing corresponds to a social class. Today, streetwear is king and comfort, even cheesy, seems to take precedence over aesthetics.