“Such a Cool Time to Be Alive”: Why Gen Z Loves Indie Sleaze

Today’s youth are looking back fondly at the messy, rebellious hipster aesthetic of the late 2000s and early 2010s, a style often referred to as “indie sleaze.” At the heart of this movement was French designer Isabel Marant, whose designs became iconic during that era.

The Return of the Bekett Wedge

In 2011, Kate Moss famously wore Isabel Marant’s suede lace-up wedge sneaker, “The Bekett,” in an ad campaign. The shoe became an instant hit, appearing in Beyoncé’s Love on Top video and on Hollywood stars like Eva Mendes. Fourteen years later, the sneaker wedge is back, now in collaboration with Converse, featuring Kate Moss’s daughter, Lila Moss, in the campaign. Lila embodies the next generation of cool with loose hair, ripped denim, and the effortless indie sleaze vibe her mother once popularized.

“People kept asking for the shoes to come back,” Marant told the BBC from her Paris studio. “When something is well-achieved and good, it remains good forever. Kate is forever.”

What is Indie Sleaze?

Indie sleaze is defined by a messy, carefree style: ripped jeans, hole-filled T-shirts, skinny leather pants, messy hair, and bold makeup. It was popularized by party-goers, UK TV series Skins, and celebrities like Alexa Chung and Sky Ferreira. It was a grungier alternative to the polished bohemian look of Sienna Miller or Stella McCartney. The style emerged as a cultural reaction, borrowing irony and rebellion from Gen X.

Originally, indie sleaze wasn’t called that. Terms like “hipster style,” “Tumblr style,” or “club-kid style” were used to describe the fashion. It wasn’t until 2022 that a TikTok by trend forecaster Mandy Lee popularized the term among teens and young adults, especially those craving the excitement of crowded parties after COVID lockdowns.

Nostalgia and the New Generation

Young fans see the early 2010s as a last moment of freedom before constant digital surveillance and overly curated online personas. “It seems like such a cool time to be alive,” says 21-year-old Chloe Plasse, a design student in Manhattan. Plasse often wears Isabel Marant to capture the designer’s “glamorous but cool” essence, even in a classroom setting.

New York college student Nikki Ball Kumar, 19, says, “Isabel Marant’s 2010 collection is my dream wardrobe.” Resale searches on platforms like eBay and Vestiaire Collective for pieces such as pyramid-studded skinny jeans and the original Bekett wedges have surged.

Marant notes that the renewed interest hits two forms of nostalgia: one for Millennials reliving their own youth and one for Gen Z, nostalgic for a time they never lived. She says, “Today everything is so polished and fake. That is not rock ’n’ roll. Seeing young people reject the over-polished aesthetic gives me hope.”

The Resale Boom

Bekett sneakers are now highly sought after on resale sites like Vestiaire Collective and The RealReal. Marant admits she never expected the shoes to become so iconic and initially produced them in limited quantities. “We didn’t make a ton of these sneakers. That isn’t my way. But you should still wear them with skinny jeans or leather pants,” she says. “In Paris, women who grew up partying with Kate Moss have stopped smoking, but the cool French style is forever.”