Rewatch culture took over your closet But what are the risks?

Whether it is Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, Friends, or The O.C., the fashion  from cult classic TV shows still leaves a powerful legacy that transcends generations. Open Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok and see for yourself. It's all there: the preppy style of Blair Waldorf, the whimsical flair of Carrie Bradshaw, the ’90s charm of Rachel Green and the vibrant, beachy look of Summer Roberts. If the show was released before the 2020s, younger generations will watch it. Not necessarily for the storylines, though, they’re tuning in for the wardrobes. Somehow, a look from 1998 is more influential than what walked a major runway last season.

Vintage fashion travels (also) through television and social media

Fashion’s obsession with the past is no news. But with the rise of social media and its extreme influence on younger audiences’ lives since Covid-19, the art to take a trip down memory lane in fashion became quite the frenzy. Driven by nostalgia for seemingly better times or a desire for authenticity, the revival of past aesthetics is everywhere, from our social media feeds to red carpets. 

Be it through trend revivals, runway collections, looks inspired by past productions, reissues of classic designs like Balenciaga Le City bag, or the infamous referential dressing, think Jenna Ortega channeling Carrie in Galliano’s iconic Dior newspaper dress at Hurry up Tomorrow premiere, fashion déjà vu never ends. 

Contemporary fashion is slowly losing its identity

As fashion and Gen Z audiences continually lean too heavily on past TV and movies sartorial hits, the nature of 2020s fashion remains undefinable. But not only that. Fashion has always been a potent tool for reflecting the times, from the liberated, shorter silhouettes of the 1920s, when women began to fight for their rights, to the revolutionary ’60s, when the relaxed, colorful hippie style bloomed amid the chaos of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement. With Gen Z’s recurring interest in fashion being rooted in the past, there is a disconnection from the present moment and from reflecting current times in new and innovative ways. 

While some say rewatch culture is democratizing fashion, others argue it’s doing the opposite, recycling nostalgia in ways that promote sameness rather than personal expression. We’re not just inspired by Serena van der Woodsen’s or Carrie Bradshaw’s wardrobe anymore, we’re replicating it wholeheartedly. In the current times, people don't wear those past, nostalgic ensembles for personal expression and individuality; they replicate them because everyone else is. It's less a question of creativity and more a question of belonging. Consequently, originality and innovation are slowly but surely becoming at stake.

It’s not just creativity, originality and out-of-the-box ideas that are lost in the fashion realm once we become too attached to the past. When iconic pieces like Carrie’s Newspaper dress, Blair’s winter capes and Marissa's Y2K style are repeatedly recreated, they lose their appeal and become ordinary.