Behind the Y2K trend revival of recent years

From Limp Bizkit to bell-bottoms, the last few years have seen Y2K, fashion and media trends of the 2000s reemerge and continue the cultural trend cycle.

The return of cultural trends after a few decades is a familiar sight people commonly call the 30-year cycle. The influx of microtrends and social media has sped up the cycle, with some believing the time has shorted to 20 or 25 years.  

As we look back at 2024, I would argue that the year 2000 (Y2K), the cultural craze of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s has made the biggest comebacks. 

The nostalgia from younger generations stems from reflecting on what was popular when they were too young to be a part of the culture. The two largest aspects that return during these cycles are music and fashion. 

One of the biggest cultural phenomena of Y2K was the popularity of nu-metal, a subgenre of alternative metal that combines other genres such as hip hop, grunge and funk. Popular bands of the time include Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipknot, Linkin Park and System of a Down. 

All these bands have reached popularity once again, with Linkin Park reforming with a new female singer, Emily Armstrong after former singer Chester Bennington passed away in 2017. Limp Bizkit, Korn and Slipknot all toured across the country over the summer. System of a Down recently sold-out multiple stadium tours after announcing them in early December.  

These bands have used the nostalgia to their advantage, with Slipknot’s tour involving them playing their 1999 self-titled debut album in full. System of a Down haven’t released an album since 2005’s “Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” but their shows easily sold out. 

Additionally, Sick New World, an alternative metal festival took place in 2023 and 2024, although the 2025 festival has been cancelled. The festival featured many of the aforementioned names along with other popular bands of the 2000s such as Evanescence, Papa Roach and Coal Chamber.  

Sick New World met a lot of the same success as other festivals such as When We Were Young and allowed younger generations to see bands they weren’t old enough to see 25 years ago. 

In recent years, Y2K fashion has come back. Incredibly baggy jeans, jorts, fat shoes and low-rise pants have returned, replacing previous fashion trends such as skinny jeans. Brands such as JNCO, DC and Empyre all capitalized on this comeback, seeing successes that they haven’t had since the early 2000’s. 

The prices of these pieces of clothing which were once viewed as ugly and unfashionable surprisingly skyrocketed due to the trend.  

Other aspects of Y2K fashion that have returned include cropped shirts, bell-bottom jeans and whale-tails, with these comebacks being reinforced by celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Ice Spice. However, some trends that were once popular didn’t seem to return, such as spiked tips, long sideburns and everybody bleaching their hair.  

This shows that whenever nostalgia brings back a trend, it’s often a mashup of then-and-now which is replicated but never truly carried through. 

The cultural throwback has impacted movies with famous film production company A24 releasing “Y2K” in December. The comedy horror movie follows the plot of an alternate reality where the Y2K technology scare comes to fruition and sees technology turn against humanity.  

Thus far critics have not been favorable and the film has not yet earned back the 15-million-dollar budget. The soundtrack includes songs from Limp Bizkit, Korn and Semisonic among other musicians of the time. 

Mean Girls serves as another example of companies capitalizing on trends coming back. The original Mean Girls released in 2004 is one of the most-loved comedies of its time. It inspired a musical written by actress Tina Fey that was released in 2019 to moderate success. The musical was then adapted into a film, which was also written by Fey. It was released in 2024, gaining strong commercial success. 

With the speed of microtrends on social media shortening, it’s unknown what trends may come back next. The skinny jeans, Cookie Monster hats and Osiris shoes of the late 2000s may see their first comeback. It’s also possible that the 1990s may continue to dominate 2025’s fashion and music trends.