97 Fun Facts About 90s Fashion

Which sitcom character inspired one of the most-requested haircuts of the mid-1990s?

Rachel Green's layered cut became a worldwide craze, yet Jennifer Aniston later called it "the ugliest haircut I've ever seen".

In which US city did the grunge subculture emerge in the mid-1980s?

Seattle's grunge look grew out of cheap thrift-store flannel, until the fashion industry began selling flannel shirts back at premium prices.

Which teenage rap duo's signature look was wearing their clothes backwards?

Kris Kross paired the backwards look with "Jump", the 1992 debut single that brought the Atlanta duo national fame.

What does the jeans brand name JNCO stand for?

Founded in Los Angeles in 1985, JNCO peaked at $186.9 million in sales before halving in 1999.

Which item did Daymond John sew at home, the product that started FUBU?

Tie-top hats were John's start: his mother taught him to sew, and he made $800 in one day selling homemade ones on a Queens street corner.

Hypercolor T-shirts changed color in response to what?

Heat triggered the shirts' color-changing dye, so an iron, bleach or a steaming-hot dryer could wreck the effect for good.

Hypercolor's color-changing dye was developed by a chemical company from which country?

Japan's Matsui Shikiso made the dye, and Generra sold more than $50 million of Hypercolor clothing in 1991 before going bankrupt a year later.

What does the hip-hop apparel brand FUBU stand for?

For Us, By Us got its start in Queens, where Daymond John and his mother took out a second mortgage on their home to fund the business.

Which company answered a New York Times classified ad and became FUBU's investor?

Samsung's textile arm answered the ad John's mother placed, and its backing let FUBU fill the orders it had taken at a Las Vegas trade show.

Which model, discovered at JFK Airport at 14, became the face of "heroin chic"?

Kate Moss's waifish Calvin Klein ads helped popularize the look, and President Bill Clinton publicly condemned heroin chic in 1997.

Which late-1970s supermodel is remembered as the originator of the heroin chic look?

Gia Carangi's heroin addiction had ended her modeling career by 1983, and she died of AIDS-related illness in 1986, aged 26.

Which designer's 1993 grunge collection for Perry Ellis got him fired?

Marc Jacobs was dismissed after the collection flopped commercially, yet in 1997 Louis Vuitton named him its creative director.

Which fashion house did Tom Ford rescue from near bankruptcy after joining in 1990?

Creative director Dawn Mello admitted that when she hired him 'no one would dream of wearing' the brand; his decade there was later called its golden era.

Which British designer's 1993 'bumster' trousers are credited with starting the low-rise revival?

Alexander McQueen's bumsters, cut low enough to bare the top of the buttocks, were the early designs that first made his name.

In October 1996, LVMH moved which Gibraltar-born designer from Givenchy to Christian Dior?

John Galliano ran Dior until 2011, when the house fired him after a video showed him saying "I love Hitler" to two women in Paris.

Which Spice Girl wore the Union Jack dress at the 1997 Brit Awards?

Geri Halliwell later revisited the look, designing a Union Jack-motif clothing range for the retailer Next in 2012.

What was stitched onto the back of the Spice Girls' famous Union Jack dress?

A CND peace sign went on the back so that the flag on the front wouldn't be linked with the far-right National Front.

Elizabeth Hurley's famous 1994 black dress was held together by what?

Oversized gold safety pins held the dress credited with propelling a little-known Elizabeth Hurley into the global spotlight at the Four Weddings and a Funeral premiere.

Who designed Princess Diana's 1994 'revenge dress', worn the night Prince Charles admitted adultery on TV?

Christina Stambolian's gown had hung in Diana's wardrobe for three years because she feared it was too daring, until the night of Charles's TV admission.

Which Italian designer was murdered outside his Miami Beach mansion in July 1997?

Gianni Versace was shot outside his Miami Beach home by Andrew Cunanan, a spree killer who had already murdered other men across the United States.

Which model starred in the 1994 'Hello Boys' Wonderbra billboard campaign?

Urban myth blamed the posters for car crashes, and the ad was later voted number 10 in a 'Poster of the Century' contest.

CK One, launched in 1994, was openly marketed as what kind of fragrance?

Unisex CK One matched Calvin Klein's stated aim for his fragrances: to appeal to a wide range of people, gay, straight, young and old.

Which rapper-turned-actor's 1992 Calvin Klein underwear ads made him a 90s poster boy?

Mark Wahlberg had praised Shabba Ranks, who said gay people should be crucified, and GLAAD protested to Calvin Klein about using him.

Which brand launched the Pump, a sneaker with inflatable chambers for a custom fit, in November 1989?

Reebok's Pump was on show when Dee Brown pumped up his pair before dunking at the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

What was LA Gear's hit 1992 kids' line of sneakers that lit up with every step?

LA Lights used mercury switches to trigger their lights, and Minnesota went on to ban sales of the shoes.

Robert Greenberg left LA Gear's top job in 1992 and founded which shoe company that year?

Skechers first sold boots to the grunge crowd, and in 2012 it agreed to pay $40 million to settle charges that its Shape-ups toning shoe ads were deceptive.

Which sneaker did designer Sergio Lozano base on human anatomy, with a spine, ribs and tendons?

The Nike Air Max 95 became so coveted that it set off a rash of muggings for the shoes, dubbed 'Air Max hunting'.

Which sportswear brand's licensed jackets became a status symbol of the early 90s?

Starter's success didn't last: the company filed for bankruptcy in 1999, and Nike bought the brand in 2004.

Which garishly striped baggy workout pants did the Road Warriors wrestling team help popularize?

Zubaz were developed as roomy workout pants for bodybuilders and weightlifters whose massive thighs didn't fit ordinary gym wear.

MC Hammer's baggy trousers are considered a style of which pants?

Harem pants are the style behind MC Hammer's trousers, and in 2016 he said he prefers to call them Hammer pants, not parachute pants.

Which rapper's Tommy Hilfiger sweatshirt, worn on SNL, sold out in New York the next day?

Hilfiger leaned into hip-hop, putting Puffy and Coolio on his runways and his logo on the hammer loop of carpenter jeans.

The 1989 label Cross Colours helped introduce which future hip-hop fashion designer?

Karl Kani was born Carl Williams, and his brand name came from asking himself, "Can I do it?"

Which brand's 'Yellow Boot' became a New York hip-hop staple in the early 90s?

Timberland executive Jeffrey Swartz asked in 1993 how the hip-hop craze could be "sustainable", though he denied any plan to distance the brand from urban buyers.

Which boot brand's classic 1460 model is named after its launch date, 1 April 1960?

Dr. Martens began with Klaus Märtens, a German army doctor who redesigned his boots after a skiing injury in 1945.

Which actress wore the yellow plaid schoolgirl suit in the 1995 film Clueless?

Alicia Silverstone got the role after director Amy Heckerling spotted her in Aerosmith's "Cryin'" music video.

Which teen drama is cited as a prominent example of grunge fashion on television?

My So-Called Life ran for a single season before ABC canceled it in May 1995, despite fans campaigning online to save it.

Which grunge frontwoman's babydoll dresses and smeared red lipstick defined the 'kinderwhore' look?

Courtney Love shared an apartment, and the look, with Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland, who is often credited as the style's co-creator.

Which clothing chain took its name from words Gap CEO Mickey Drexler saw in Paris?

Old Navy began in 1993 as Gap Warehouse and was renamed in 1994 to give the cheaper chain an identity separate from Gap.

Which 1990s teen-girl catalog was launched by two Yale graduates?

Delia's was revived in 2018 by the online retailer Dolls Kill, which licensed the name for new collections.

Which magazine's accessories editor left in 1991 to launch her own handbag line?

Mademoiselle's head of accessories, Kate Spade, saw that designer handbags lacked simple, sensible shapes, so she made her own.

Which hair accessory did inventor Rommy Revson name after her pet toy poodle?

The scrunchie was Revson's alternative to plastic and metal hair ties, inspired by the elastic waistband of her sweatpants.

Which early-90s wrist fad was banned in several schools after reports of injuries?

Slap bracelets hid a thin strip of steel, and in 1990 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned they could cut children's wrists.

Which 1996 film inspired the late-90s 'dressy casual' menswear look of bowling shirts?

Swingers made stars of its leads, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, and established Doug Liman as a director to watch.

Which supermodel starred in Pepsi's famous 1992 Super Bowl commercial?

Cindy Crawford's ad got a Pepsi remake in 2016, and the new version featured her again.

Which retailer opened its first store in a Montclair, California, mall in 1989 and became known for band T-shirts?

Hot Topic later branched into plus-size fashion, launching the chain Torrid in 2001.

Which French denim label, worn in the 'Jump' music video, industrialised stonewashing?

Girbaud's stonewashing began with Wrangler jeans tumbled with stones in a laundromat in Paris's Belleville district.

Which shoe designer started his company in 1990 with $1,100, selling shoes from the trunk of his car?

Steve Madden's company was taken public by the brokerage Stratton Oakmont, and in 2002 he was sentenced to 41 months in prison for securities fraud.

Every piece of wardrobe in Britney Spears's 1998 debut video, school uniform included, came from which discount chain?

Kmart supplied the lot, and the director was told that no item cost more than $17. Knotting the school shirts was the singer's own idea, because she thought the outfits looked dorky.

Which NBA rebounding champion wore a wedding dress in 1996 to promote his autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be?

Dennis Rodman announced that he was marrying himself. The Chicago Bulls forward was already known for dyeing his hair one artificial colour after another.

Which garment worn by Kurt Cobain at Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged taping sold for $334,000 at auction in 2019?

The olive cardigan was a thrift-store find, and it has never been washed since the concert. Its price was a record for a sweater at auction.

Which French designer created the cone bra corset Madonna wore on her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour?

Jean Paul Gaultier, long known as the enfant terrible of French fashion, had already stirred controversy in 1984 by putting men on the runway in skirts.

Which sitcom's ruffled 'puffy shirt' of 1993 was donated to the National Museum of American History in 2004?

Seinfeld had Jerry unknowingly agree to wear the pirate-style blouse on television, after nodding along to a 'low talker' he could not hear.

Which sunglasses brand said sales of its Predator 2 model tripled after the agents wore it in 1997's Men in Black?

Ray-Ban reported that sales of the model tripled to $5 million. The company had backed the film with a television campaign worth as much as $10 million.

Which rapper wore an inflated black suit resembling a trash bag in her 1997 debut video, directed by Hype Williams?

Missy Elliott's blow-up suit was made of patent leather and filmed through a fisheye lens for The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly). She wore the outfit again on stage at Lilith Fair.

Which supermodel fell on Vivienne Westwood's 1993 catwalk in foot-high platform shoes later shown in a London museum?

Naomi Campbell had already made history in 1988 as the first Black model on the cover of French Vogue. The towering shoes that tripped her became a museum exhibit.

Which R&B trio pinned wrapped condoms to their brightly coloured outfits in early-1990s videos to promote safe sex?

TLC's Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes went further and covered one lens of her glasses with a condom. The group's 1995 hit Waterfalls later carried the same warning.

The Casual Friday dress code that swept 1990s offices grew out of a midcentury workplace custom from which US state?

Hawaii's Aloha Friday began as a garment makers' campaign to get aloha shirts into the office. It spread first to California and then around the globe.

Which Canadian supermodel told Vogue in 1990 that she would not wake up for less than $10,000 a day?

Linda Evangelista was known as the industry's 'chameleon' for hair colours that changed constantly and set trends. Her remark was still being repeated in the media decades later.

Which singer refused to appear in his own 1990 video and cast five supermodels to lip-sync in his place?

George Michael took the idea from a British Vogue cover that pictured the same five models together. David Fincher directed the video, for Freedom! '90.

Which tennis star skipped Wimbledon from 1988 to 1990, objecting to its predominantly white dress code?

Andre Agassi came back, and in 1992 the tournament he professed to hate gave him his first major title, on the surface that suited him least.

Which lingerie retailer held its first runway show at New York's Plaza Hotel in August 1995?

Victoria's Secret had supermodel Stephanie Seymour introduce the first show. It grew into a spectacle staged as far afield as Cannes, Paris, London and Shanghai.

Which outfitter, founded in 1892, became a preppy teen mall brand after hiring CEO Mike Jeffries in 1992?

Abercrombie & Fitch began as an elite supplier of expensive shotguns, fishing rods and tents. Sexualized advertising full of models drove its meteoric 1990s rise.

Which former Vogue editor opened a bridal salon at New York's Carlyle Hotel in 1990?

Vera Wang had been the magazine's youngest editor, hired straight from college. She also designed the costumes Nancy Kerrigan skated in at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.

Which country star hitchhiked through the Mojave Desert in a hooded leopard-print outfit for a 1998 music video?

Shania Twain is offered a ride out of the desert by a string of men in That Don't Impress Me Much. She wore a similar leopard outfit again in a 2020 video.

Which actress collected her 1999 Oscar in a pink Ralph Lauren gown credited with bringing the colour back into fashion?

Gwyneth Paltrow was named Best Actress that night for playing Viola de Lesseps. The dress itself became extremely popular.

Which accessory did Gwen Stefani start wearing in the mid-1990s after family gatherings with bandmate Tony Kanal?

A bindi, the forehead decoration of South Asia, reached her through Kanal's family, who are of Indian heritage. Madonna and Julia Roberts have been seen wearing one too.

Which actress had a barbed-wire armband tattooed for real, rather than painted on daily, while filming 1996's Barb Wire?

Pamela Anderson kept the design on her left upper arm for nearly two decades before having it removed.

Which model was the first African American woman on the covers of both GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue?

Tyra Banks began modelling at 15 while still at high school in Los Angeles. She went on to appear on the swimsuit cover three times.

In which Julia Roberts film does her character wear a red opera gown ranked among the most unforgettable dresses ever?

Pretty Woman flies Vivian by private jet to see La Traviata in San Francisco. The opera's story, of a courtesan who falls for a wealthy man, also inspired the film's plot.

Which science-fiction film, with costumes by Kym Barrett, inspired the late-1990s fashion for black leather trenchcoats?

The Matrix also made a signature of its tiny sunglasses, each pair commissioned for the film from the maker Blinde Design.

The sagging trousers of 1990s hip-hop are often said to come from US prisons, where inmates may be denied which item?

Belts may be banned in prison to prevent self-harm, and the clothing issued is often too large, so trousers hang low. The look reached rap fans in the early 1990s.

Which headwear of Irish farmers and fishermen was Oasis singer Liam Gallagher often photographed wearing in the 1990s?

The bucket hat had been popular with rappers in the 1980s before Britpop took it up. Early versions were naturally waterproof, thanks to the lanolin in their unwashed wool.

Which soft fabric made the loose, padded shirts worn by grunge bands such as Nirvana and Mudhoney from 1991?

Flannel shirts were worn as an anti-fashion statement that matched the unvarnished music. By the mid-1990s the tartan versions had gone mainstream in Britain and the US.

Which Latin music star wore decorative bustiers on stage and opened two Texas clothing boutiques in 1994?

Selena designed and manufactured the clothing line herself, with shops in Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Her stage outfits led the media to call her the Tejano Madonna.

Which rapper co-founded the clothing brand Rocawear with Damon Dash in 1999 and became its sole owner in 2005?

Jay-Z took full control when Dash sold his stake for a reported $22.5 million. The brand has had annual sales of $700 million.

Which label did rapper and producer Puff Daddy launch with a men's sportswear collection for spring 1998?

Sean John earned its founder the CFDA Men's Designer of the Year award in 2004. By 2016 its annual retail sales had reached $450 million.

Which rapper wore a purple jumpsuit and matching pasty, designed by Misa Hylton, to the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards?

Lil' Kim's outfit drew a famously shocked reaction on stage from presenter Diana Ross. Hylton had begun designing because clothes to fit the 4'11" rapper were difficult to find.

Which short haircut with a straight-cut fringe was popularized by George Clooney in the second season of ER?

The Caesar cut takes its name from ancient Rome, where portrait busts of the Caesars show the same short, level fringe.

Which protective plaited hairstyle got its name only in the 1990s, when R&B star Janet Jackson popularized it?

Box braids take their name from the square sections the hair is parted into before plaiting. The style itself had been worn for years before anyone named it.

Which haircut, ten inches high at its peak, was the trademark of Christopher Reid of rap duo Kid 'n Play?

The hi-top fade was common among young Black American men from 1984 to 1993, until R&B groups such as Jodeci reworked it with slits and new designs.

Which Cologne-based footwear brand made the 10-centimetre platform sneakers made famous by the Spice Girls?

Buffalo also sold the same model with a 20-centimetre sole. It reissued its 1990s platforms from 2018, when the decade's styles came back into fashion.

Which fashion house introduced the Baguette in 1997, a compact handbag often cited as the first 'It bag'?

Fendi lent the bag as a prop to the new series Sex and the City, whose heroine made it famous. More than a million were sold in 20 years.

Which Italian fashion house's younger sister label, Miu Miu, takes its name from its head designer's family nickname?

Prada designer Miuccia Prada gave the label her own nickname. Its first public collection was cowgirl-themed, with fringed suede jackets and patchwork prairie skirts.

Which jeans brand made Claudia Schiffer famous in 1989, then replaced her as its face with Anna Nicole Smith?

Guess had introduced its prize-winning black-and-white advertisements in 1985. It was during the campaign that Vickie Smith adopted the stage name Anna Nicole.

Which Paris fashion house, founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion, named Stella McCartney its creative director in 1997?

Chloé kept her in the post until 2001. Its Egyptian-born founder had set out to offer luxury ready-to-wear when the idea was still new.

Which designer made the wedding dress Carolyn Bessette wore to marry JFK Jr. in 1996?

Narciso Rodriguez was a friend and former Calvin Klein colleague of the bride. The attention the dress brought him led to an approach from LVMH.

Which clothing line did Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons launch in 1992, mixing preppy style with hip-hop culture?

Phat Farm started out with men's T-shirts, jeans and jackets. A women's sister line, Baby Phat, became the fashion label of Kimora Lee Simmons.

Which skate shop and clothing label did James Jebbia open on Lafayette Street in Manhattan in April 1994?

Supreme took its red logo from a book of Barbara Kruger's artwork. The shop's first staff included skaters from the cast of the Larry Clark film Kids.

Which Italian clothing brand's 1992 advertisement used the deathbed photograph of AIDS activist David Kirby?

Benetton had hired photographer Oliviero Toscani in 1982, and he turned its ads from clothes to social issues. In 2000 Guinness World Records listed its 'Most Controversial Campaign'.

Which word for a style-conscious urban man first appeared in a 1994 article in the British newspaper The Independent?

Metrosexual is a blend of metropolitan and heterosexual, coined for a man especially meticulous about his style, grooming and appearance.

Which drag queen became the first spokesperson for MAC's Viva Glam lipstick in 1994, raising money to fight AIDS?

RuPaul's lipstick was the first product MAC ever advertised. The company pledged the whole sale price of every Viva Glam lipstick to its AIDS fund.

Which cosmetics brand began in 1995 with a baby-blue nail polish that founder Dineh Mohajer mixed to match her sandals?

Hard Candy named the shade Sky and first sold it at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, after compliments poured in. LVMH bought the company in 1999.

Which university's 'Fab Five' freshmen set a national trend for baggy basketball shorts and black socks in 1991–92?

Michigan's five were the first all-freshman line-up to start an NCAA championship game. Younger players dropped short shorts and white socks to copy them.

Which skateboard shoe company became title sponsor of the Warped Tour in 1996, the rock festival's second year?

Vans stayed on as the festival's main sponsor from then on. The company had begun in 1966 as a single shop in Anaheim, California.

Which NBA expansion team chose teal as its primary colour, setting off a sports fashion craze into the early 1990s?

The Charlotte Hornets also wore the NBA's first pinstriped uniforms, the work of a fashion designer who was a North Carolina native.

Which director shot the 1994 satire Prêt-à-Porter, released in America as Ready to Wear, during Paris Fashion Week?

Robert Altman was inspired after accompanying his wife to a Sonia Rykiel show in Paris in 1984. He filmed among real models and designers a decade later.

Which model did Ralph Lauren recruit in 1993 as the face of his Polo line of men's sportswear?

Tyson Beckford was named Man of the Year by VH1 in 1995, and People magazine listed him among the 50 most beautiful people in the world.