If you want to dabble in indie sleaze, look no further for the trend guide to rule all trend guides.
After what feels like the never-ending, noughts-inspired Y2K and McBling trends (think Paris Hilton with tiny bags and tinier crop tops), young people have shifted their sights onto ‘indie sleaze.’ If you haven’t heard this phrase yet, you almost certainly know the reference: think the infamous 2007 photo of Kate Moss leaning out of a balcony, cigarette in mouth, as then-boyfriend Pete Doherty (of The Libertines) plays the guitar.
While it certainly wasn’t known by that label at the time, indie sleaze roughly encapsulates the years from 2006 to 2012. The culture was heavily influenced by British bands and their groupies, and music festivals like Glastonbury. Famous rockstar girlfriends like Kate Moss and Alexa Chung led the way in style, and the big Topshop on Oxford Circus was a fashion cornerstone. “The fashion was hipster subculture, performatively vintage, mixing 70s, 80s and grunge,” writes Glamour UK’s Emily Maddick, who saw the scene firsthand. The era was defined by indie rock music, as well as copious partying and the consumption of alcohol, drugs and cigarettes. (Vapes were not yet widespread.)
Indie sleaze began to gain traction online around 2021, which is when Instagram account @indiesleaze was born, posting party photos by photographer Cobrasnake and style icons from the era like model Agyness Deyn. As someone who is part of Gen Z, I think this era feels so romantic to us because it seems worlds away from today’s highly-commercialised London nightlife, where one double vodka can set you back £16 in some clubs. It feels like you can’t go out every weekend unless you have a trust fund, let alone multiple times a week. (Grassroots events still exist, but I digress…)
It was also before social media became omnipresent in our lives, so it seems simpler, more fun and social, and less performative. It was a time before “aesthetics” and “cores”, when young people dressed a certain way because they were part of a subculture, rather than because they stumbled upon a neatly-packaged, shoppable label online. There’s something that feels much more authentic about this era, even with all its shortcomings. And there were many.
In Glamour UK’s recent piece, Emily Maddick details the dark side of the scene from someone who lived through it. The younger generation tends to conveniently forget that it was a time of intense misogyny in the media, and had a seedy, destructive underbelly of drug abuse (it’s not called ‘sleaze’ for no reason!) The late Amy Winehouse famously fell victim to fame, drugs and media dehumanisation during this time. It’s also important to note that most of the style references from this era (often via invasive paparazzi shots) feature very thin, very white stars – as was the mainstream beauty standard at the time.
Still, the style clearly resonates with young people: something about the dishevelled, effortless vibe just feels cool. It’s hardly new for younger generations to mine previous decades for fashion inspo – like how the 90s took cues from 70s style. Plus, there’s clearly an appetite for hedonism and escapism through partying, as evidenced by last year’s Brat summer. (Some say it's a counter-reaction to the ‘clean girl’ trend, which prioritises skin care, smoothies and pilates, as well as the always-on mentality of hustle culture. Not to mention, the dire state of the world.)
So, if you want to look like an indie sleaze starlet (sans destructive habits) here are staples of the style, as evidenced by the era’s most famous faces.
How to wear the indie sleaze trend:
Skinny jeans
