If your feed is flooded with Cobrasnake photography, Hedi Slimane skinny leather looks, and Snowstrippers hits, it’s likely that, like a lot of us, the algorithm has led you to indie sleaze. Since its comeback in 2022, the indie sleaze revival has become one of the leading fashion aesthetics but is it still cool if a resurfaced niche blows up and goes mainstream?
Firstly, some context on indie sleaze: a term coined by Mandy Lee in 2021, it’s an ode to the original movement from 2006-2012 where it was all about partying your problems away (like the Great Recession lol) and uploading drunken flash pictures onto your MySpace. The style to go with it reflected that - sloppy, grungy and, definitely, skinny (thanks, Hedi).
Like the original movement, the indie sleaze revival is a lot more than just the fashion. It’s about going to underground techno raves with other fashion mfers and taking pics on the digi cam you won on eBay auction to upload onto an IG photo dump. The world we live in now is far from perfect too, so maybe partying that pain away isn’t such a bad idea either.
OGs like Hedi Slimane, Cobrasnake, and Crystal Castles will always be in the hall of fame but new-age talents like The Dare, Stolenbesos and The Hellp are giving the movement some much-needed fresh air. By building on the initial aesthetic, it makes it seem less like a replica of a lost time and more like something that’s evolved, with Hedi Celine leather jackets and Bldthnr graphic tees.
Indie sleaze may be getting mainstream and slowly losing the “indie” part of its title, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t fw the aesthetic anymore. We’ll always be chasing the OG movement because the revival itself was born out of nostalgia for flash photography, experimental EDM and archive Dior. At least the people in the indie sleaze revival actually seem like they shower…
Featured image via The Cobrasnake ©
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