The excitement of the Strokes was how their taut, pop song take on the Velvet Underground sat in opposition to their style, which wasn’t all skinny black jeans and Converse. Their aesthetic of secondhand pieces styled in an unstyled way, is an unsaid mantra of many menswear collections from Alessandro Michele’s new Gucci to Maison Margiela.
They followed the Spice Girls’ template of being a charismatic quintet, whose individual styles all added to the bigger picture. Faded denim jackets, granddad trousers, Oxfam blazers and lots of earth tones, hair (a mix of Weller mod, unkempt cartoon curls and post-mullet androgyny) that was diametrically opposite to “done” and yet informed future generations of boybands (hi, Harry Styles). Spin magazine described them as “part Bowery Boys, part CK One hotties” and that was it, a perfect, prescient meshing of high fashion and storied, East Village thrift. Their influence on how a generation of teenage boys would dress and interact with fashion was massive.
