‘Boom boom' fashion is having a moment as Canadians dress against economic uncertainty

Globe and Mail

30-05-2025

A wave of loud, 1980s-inspired, visibly affluent dressing – power suits with exaggerated shoulders, high-slit skirts and vibrant hues – has been taking over catwalks, red carpets, and the streets of London, Paris and New York. Now, the fashion trend is creeping into some of Canada's fashion hotspots.
To describe this shift in aesthetic, L.A.-based trend forecaster Sean Monahan coined the term 'boom boom' in December. (Mr. Monahan, 38, introduced the concepts of 'normcore' in 2014 and 'vibe shift' in 2022 to describe the fashions of the time.) Mr. Monahan said he began noticing people swapping sneakers for loafers when going out, followed by an influx of menswear, fur, pleated pants and classic silhouettes.
Compared to an expensive, but plain, designer sweatshirt, 'boom boom' pieces seek to exert status and a feeling of excess. They inherently signal wealth because of their traditional craftsmanship, but can be cheaply manufactured today, said Mr. Monahan, who writes about cultural trends in his 8Ball newsletter.
The 'boom boom' aesthetic is being embraced by fashion-conscious Canadians who are latching onto signals of financial success they may or may not be able to afford.
'We live in a fake-it-till-you-make-it era, and when the economy gets worse, people start faking it more,' Mr. Monahan said.
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While not everyone is taking 'boom boom' to the extreme, the gravitation toward wearing visible luxury contrasts with the financial uncertainty Canadians are facing, brought on by the Canada-U.S. trade war and years of higher living costs.
A March, 2025 Leger survey commissioned by CPA Canada and BDO Debt Solutions found that 83 per cent of Canadians said they were adjusting their financial plans due to the current economic state.
Meanwhile, new Canadian graduates face a gruelling economic reality. In the first quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate for those under 25 who have completed post-secondary education was 11.2 per cent. For this group, that's the highest rate to start the year in at least two decades, excluding the pandemic.
Natalie Michie, 25, style editor of the Canadian outlet Fashion Magazine, emphasized the trend's role in the resurgence of 80s-esque power dressing.
'['Boom Boom'] goes back to reclaiming a bit of power in a time that we feel so powerless,' she said.
In November, Ms. Michie, who says her personal style leans feminine, challenged herself to wear neckties for a week. In the process, she says she unlocked a newfound can-do attitude.
'Having the necktie – it's been my own way to lean into the 'boom boom' mindset, and I'm certainly not someone who is in the tax bracket that can be living the 'boom boom' lifestyle,' she said.
Pressure to not only dress, but also act, rich is hitting the mass
es through 'lifestyle dysmorphia,' which occurs when someone has a distorted perception of what they should be able to achieve financially at their stage of life, said Mr. Monahan.
'Social media has skewed our visions of what's normal,' said Shannon Lee Simmons, a certified financial planner. 'It's very hard for us to know where we stack up, and then our brain just fills in the rest.'
The 'boom boom' trend is a reversal of 2023's 'quiet luxury,' which popularized elevated basics such as cashmere baseball caps and toned-down, neutral pieces over giant designer logos.
It's 'an aesthetic that embraces a sleazy and conspicuous wealthy effect, but counterintuitively, is coming from a place of insecurity,' said Mr. Monahan.
Hence, some young, fashion-conscious Canadians are finding ways to achieve 'boom boom' while staying on budget.
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Nicholas Barsoum, 28, the manager of I Miss You MAN, a vintage designer retailer in Toronto, said he's seen an influx of young men looking for expensive-looking suits.
'A lot of vintage, especially Giorgio Armani, old-money stuff is going to much younger people,' Mr. Barsoum said. And vintage designer pieces, which can go for a fraction of retail prices, are within reach.
'A guy wearing a black suit and tie in the summer is more interesting than yet another street fit,' Mr. Barsoum said.
While strolling along the Ossington Strip in Toronto, Marie Minimo, who works as a theatre producer and marketer, acknowledged that their matching pleated top and pants are a dupe for the designer brand Issey Miyake, which they purchased from the Chinese online retailer AliExpress.
'I'm constantly worried about having enough money to pay for groceries and rent,' said the 25-year-old, who stopped buying designer clothes after recently getting a place of their own.
'I just can't afford it any more,' they said.