Summary
The decade started off with leggy, Versace-clad supermodels (Linda! Cindy! Naomi! Christy!) The epitome of this new muse? Kate Moss. The other style born out of the Y2k era was an embrace of the change, a playful take on cyber fashion.
In the mid-decade, a new crop of models emerged. These new models were less bodacious glamazons and more waifish willows. The rise of the supermodel coincided with the rise of individuality in fashion. Models with passions, personalities, and pizazz were in.
For those minimalists in the 1990s, fashion in its purest form was prized. Slip dresses without seams, button-ups with a utilitarian straight-forwardness. Native dress and folkloric fashions from everywhere and anywhere were pulled from. The arrival of the internet and digital photography influenced fashion in a playful way.
In 1991, TLC continued the 1980s hip-hop style with bright neons, parachute pants, and oversized denim dungarees. In 1997, Kimora Lee Simmons launched Baby Phat, which sold the hip hip lifestyle to anyone who wanted to look the part.
The 1990s was the most casual decade yet. Men were inspired by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s and the zany fashions worn by Will Smith. Boy and girl bands ruled. The first-ever flip phone from Motorola was released in 1996.
