"Bruises on the fruit, tender age in bloom," sang Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, as he ushered in the new age of grunge fashion. The grunge movement began in the late 1980s, similar to the birth of the band Nirvana, which didn’t enter mainstream culture until the early 90s.
Grunge was truly an anti-fashion movement, marking rebellion and distrust toward the opulence and mall culture of fashion in the 1980s. This dramatic shift from bright colors and metallics to dirty flannels and torn jeans was unsettling — and it was supposed to be. Fashion is political and always has been, and grunge is a perfect example of that.
Grunge fashion is an anti-materialistic rejection of mainstream culture. According to an article from Vogue, the style originated in Seattle, Washington, and was founded by the children of Baby Boomers who rebelled against their parents' way of life. Needing to layer up in the cold Seattle winters, these nonconformists flocked to cheap, second hand clothing found in local thrift stores, creating the grunge look as we know it today. It’s a mindset; an anti-consumerist and anti-capitalist way of life that actually rejected attention at the time of its origin, rather than vying for it.
Vogue said that the term grunge was first coined in 1988 by the young record label Sub Pop, which produced Nirvana’s first record, Bleach (1989). "It could have been sludge, grime, crud—any word like that," Jonathan Poneman, a Sub Pop founder (Marin, Vogue, 1992), said, pointing toward the grimy, raw essence of the music the fashion is tied to.
Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill and Nirvana were all important bands of the grunge era, despite their aversion to the name. With greasy hair and a dirty green cardigan, Cobain took the world by storm during the 1993 MTV Unplugged Live Concert, where he sang songs that many in the younger generation felt deeply connected to.
The style of grunge was easily recognizable; baggy clothes and chunky Doc Marten boots paired with floral dresses — worn by both men and women — were staples. This combination was first worn by members of the Riot Grrrl movement, which focused on feminism, consent and women making a place for themselves in the historically male-dominated rock industry. They took typically feminine clothing and made it their own, using it as a way to reclaim their femininity and reject patriarchal values.
Cobain, who was often around members of the Riot Grrrl movement and even dated Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill, loved this style and adopted it as his own: According to Vintage Everyday, Cobain told Melody Maker — a British music magazine — in 1992, "There's nothing more comfortable than that cozy flower pattern… It just feels comfortable, sexy and free wearing a dress. It's fun," This was very much still a controversial take, given the still-prevalent macho values in the United States.
The fashion industry, still hooked on tradition, turned up its nose at the haphazard thrifted fashion of the grunge style. Cathy Horyn of The Washington Post even stated, "Call it boho, grunge or déjà vu all over again, but the new look for spring is chaotic, contrived and so encumbered with cultural significance that even the most astute follower of fashion will find herself wondering if she's supposed to look like Courtney Love or Nicole Diver."
Marc Jacobs, the former designer of Perry Ellis International, is credited with bringing the Seattle style to the mainstream. According to an article in The New York Times, Jacobs’s Perry Ellis Spring 1993 line debuted on the runway of 1992 and was — to put it bluntly — a “mess.”
Shaw complained that the music was too loud, the models looked as if they had rolled out of bed and that one even had… "a nose ring" (Shaw, The New York Times). The collection notoriously caused Jacobs to be fired as lead designer. However, it blew up after appearing in Vogue in December 1992 in an iconic photoshoot by Steven Meisel, dubbed "Grunge and Glory."
In the photographs, Naomi Campbell and other models can be seen in mismatched plaid and baggy Nirvana graphic tees, wearing distressed combat boots. The style exploded, with m hi ore and more high-end collections by designers such as Anna Sui, Karl Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein and others gaining traction.
This commercialization of an originally anti-capitalist movement was not well-received by the king and queen of grunge — Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, respectively. After Marc Jacobs sent them photos of the collection, Vogue said that Love was quoted as saying, "Do you know what we did with it? We burned it. We were punkers—we didn’t like that kind of thing."
Since then, the original and unique style has become part of the mainstream. Even today, shoppers can find cheap replications of Nirvana T-shirts at Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic. It seems almost senseless — designers selling items that could be found at any local thrift store for a fraction of the cost. What began as an act of rebellion was repackaged for the commercial gain of the elite.
Fast fashion today runs rampant, causing immense waste and exploitation. Shein — a fast-fashion brand — made over $2 billion in 2023, according to an article from Reuters, with over 92 million tons of textile waste ending up in landfills every year. This is a harmful cycle that continues to cause damage to both people and the environment.
The current trend cycle is also shifting into a more conservative and elitist space, with tradwife — an abbreviation of the term, “traditional wife” — and quiet, luxury styles gaining traction. These styles are characterized by traditional gender roles and modesty, with the term tradwife garnering over 64.3 million posts on TikTok, illustrating this shift.
Everyone wears clothes, and what you wear is always a statement. Even with simple jeans and a T-shirt, you are inevitably saying something. By turning away from the trend cycle and focusing on individual values, you can apply the method of revolution used by the grunge movement to your own life.
Fashion has always been political; from armbands in the Civil War to safety pins during Brexit to the anti-establishment feminine revival of the Riot Grrrls. By going against the commercial clean clones and dressing in unique and whimsical ways, you are not only able to express yourself, but also to defy the norm. As Kathleen Hanna, singer of Bikini Kill and friend of Cobain, sang in their song Rebel Girl, "We are the revolution."
