Baggy pants, band tees and spiky hairstyles land in Las Vegas as fans join the mosh pit of mishmashed Y2K nostalgia.


Baggy pants, band T-shirts and spiky hairstyles land in Las Vegas as new-gen fans join the mosh pit of mishmashed Y2K nostalgia.


The era’s subversive music and style was back in full force this month as System of a Down, Korn, Deftones, Incubus and many more landed in Las Vegas for the inaugural <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sicknewworld/">Sick New World</a> festival. Much like last year’s When We Were Young—the <a href="http://goat.com/editorial/pop-punk-fashion-trend">pop punk extravaganza</a> featuring headliners My Chemical Romance and Paramore—the event played off our seemingly never-ending turn-of-the-millennium nostalgia. But as a new generation of nu metalheads moshed to anthemic hits beneath the desert sun, it became clear that there was more than bleary eyed nostalgia at play. After all, nu metal never really left.

Band tees still populate nearly every mainstream fashion outlet. Likewise, baggy pants are very much back in style, with <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=pov%3A%20you%20finally%20stopped%20wearing%20skinny%20jeans&amp;t=1684860570565">TikTokers posting about the fashion glow-ups</a> that occurred once they stopped wearing skinny jeans. And these looks have been stomping down the runway too, as the once maligned ’90s aesthetic finds its home in the wide-leg denim and oversized tees from recent collections by Givenchy, Balenciaga and Vetements. For Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection, baggy jeans, wallet chains and facial piercings made their divisive comeback. Vetements channeled nu metal aesthetics through colorful spiked hairstyles and voluminous cargo pants for Spring/Summer 2023. Givenchy’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection riffed on the style more explicitly, with graphic metal band merch and relaxed denim.

But at its core, nu metal is fiercely independent and democratic, a vibrant melting pot of personal style cues taken from every kid in the mosh pit. Alt rock scenes might come with a macho reputation, but nu metal helped pioneer the blurring of sartorial gender rules. In the late ’90s and early ’00s, Korn frontman Jonathan Davis would wear kilts onstage, an edgy statement that helped usher in the notion that men could wear skirts too and look cool while doing so.

The first iteration of nu metal spoke to a generation of suburban teens seeking refuge in a space that could be angry and vulnerable at the same time. And in an era of rapidly cycling mix-and-match micro-trends, nu metal’s genre-defying sound and style feels as fresh now as it did back then. Yet there’s an authenticity in the bold looks on display at Sick New World that goes beyond rigidly defined subculture; a defiant, euphoric blend of goth, punk and pop punk aesthetics that transcend time and space.

Sick New World Turns Up the Volume on Nu Metal Nostalgia

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Sick New World Turns Up the Volume on Nu Metal Nostalgia