Y2K Vibes
The 2000’s called, and they want their style back! Get ready to dust off your fave low rise jeans, glittery lip gloss, and oversized wrap sunglasses, the noughties are the trend of the season, and we can’t get enough. From our platform sandals, chunky sneakers, pop bright mary-janes to our grungy loafers and sky-high platform boots, you’ll be able to live out your 2000’s style fantasies with ease. Trust us, it’s a vibe.
Steve Madden footwear has long been at the heart of on-trend style. Our old school noughties silhouettes are still one of the most coveted things in vintage designer stores as well as on buy and sell sites, like Depop and Grailed. Back in the early 2000’s, we pioneered the chunky street style look in downtown N.Y.C. Steve Madden was the name to know and the must-have brand to own, charging ahead of the other shoe brands of the era, both in reputation and the styles being designed. There were two pivotal elements of Steve Madden becoming the IT brand of the time, one involved a very avant garde method of deciding which styles to produce and the other (perhaps the most pivotal) was a series of ad campaigns, which became an iconic part of pop culture; The Steve Madden Bobble Heads.
The process of design for Madden back in the early 2000’s (and still today), was one full of attitude and rock and roll edge. Remember, this was a young man who had started his brand from nothing, simply wanting to share his inspiration and vision with the world of fashion. Rather than vaguely following trends and deciding to produce only certain styles which were deemed ‘relevant’ by large teams, Madden changed course. Small runs of almost every one of his designs were put in stores; if the customer loved it and the style sold out, it would be re-produced. This process meant more outrageous styles were tested, and often they were best-sellers, leading to SM always having the most on-trend and of the moment silhouettes and styles.
So, apart from absolutely iconic, what were the Steve Madden Bobble Head campaigns? The first of many was shot by Butch Belair and run in the early 2000’s in several of the must-have teen magazines of the time. It featured models dressed in stylishly cute clothes from every noughties subculture, with blown out limbs, lollypop heads, and SM shoes at the forefront. The campaign was a hit, exploding into society and changing the course of modern fashion, both controversial and revered. Madden said his favourite Bobble Head was the redhead, dressed in a suede tank, flirty sandals and shorts, washing her car. We love the blonde, with quirky pink sunglasses, denim capris and chunky raffia wedges, leading her oversized pet chick on a studded leash.
The Bobble Head campaigns continued for roughly 5 years, influencing countless brands and pop culture references alike. It’s no secret that the Bratz creator drew direct inspiration from the campaign, the first sketches for the range of best-selling dolls were based on the Bobble Head models he had seen in magazines. The Bobble Head / Bratz style is the driving element of Y2K fashion today; one of the key blueprints for the entire trend.
With Y2K style coming back in full force, we have reimagined our chunky platform shoe hit-list, in plush new textures and colours (hot pink satin anyone?) for a modern take on the revered trend. Wondering how to style your new chunky boots and Y2K platforms? We love pairing back our chunky sneakers with velvet tracksuits and our platform heels with a low rise mini and a baby tee. Both looks need a 2000’s style match-back mini-bag for the perfect SM Bobble Head inspired vibe.
