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Polished Rock Is the Nostalgic Aesthetic Taking Over 2025
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At a certain point over the last half-decade, online attitudes shifted from futuristic to nostalgic, taking personal style along with them. The year 2020 saw the resurgence of McBling and Y2K, which coincided with the explosion of TikTok, sending fashion aesthetics into digital hyperdrive. From there, microtrends took on a life of their own, ultimately leading to intense trend fatigue and the rise (and fall) of quiet luxury.
Now, as we come out of the sweeping haze of cashmere cardigans and wide-legged trousers, fashion is once again experimenting with measured extravagance, blending late-20th-century power dressing with the flippant attitude of 2010s grunge and presenting us with a new hybrid. Call it 'polished rock.'
It's the result of two phenomena converging: continued nostalgia, on the part of brands and fans alike, for It items of runways past; and a gradual rebuttal of the quiet-luxury-induced quest for aesthetic perfection. 'Younger people [are] obsessed with what they see on social media. And a lot of social media fashion content right now is about the past,' says fashion writer and author Kristen Bateman. Hints of this retromania have emerged of late—Chemena Kamali debuted an updated Paddington bag for Chloé's fall 2025 collection, while Saint Laurent returned to its '80s archive of decadent lace and gold accessories.
Isabel Marant artistic director Kim Bekker wanted a reset this season, opting for a tousled but composed look that oozed subtle sexiness. For fall 2025, she turned to British rock bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, as well as Marant herself, for inspiration, leaning into the clash between tailored silhouettes and an IDGAF attitude. A lace blouse paired with a masculine coat evoked this ideal of what she calls 'something very delicate and romantic, with something tough over it.' Achieving the look relies on a balance of gloss and intentional undone-ness. Think a plain white T-shirt and an embellished designer leather jacket, or statement patterned tights with the perfect blowout.
Womenswear borrowing from traditionally masculine silhouettes, while far from its original '80s storming-the-C-suite context, feels transgressive once again, says Francesca Granata, associate professor of fashion studies at the Parsons School of Design. Take Vaquera's fall 2025 collection: Much like in the '80s, bigger was better, whether it was off-kilter hats, gigantic pearly accessories, shelf-like shoulders, poufy gowns, or tattered suits. 'This return to [a traditional idea] of womanhood, which we never thought we were going to see again in our lifetime, is being pushed on social media,' Granata says. 'So all of a sudden, these masculine, broad-shouldered silhouettes are going against the grain.'
Unlike its late-aughts predecessor indie sleaze, this revival can't help but be more refined and less scrappy-DIY, rebel roots be damned. Mary-Kate Olsen's wine-stained Balenciaga Le City bag might drive nostalgic fans to re-create the look (just probably without the stain). 'When I was younger, I idolized Audrey Kitching—her pink hair and messy eyeliner. But today, I feel like that can't exist, because everything is so curated for social media,' Bateman says. 'I don't know that we would ever experience a real rock 'n' roll culture again, so I think that's why there's a fascination with it.' If designers like Zandra Rhodes, who dressed both rock stars and royalty, helped commercialize countercultural aesthetics, the result of that commingling is finally here.
If a single designer could sum up the concept, it would be Hedi Slimane, who in his prior roles as creative director of Dior Homme, Saint Laurent, and Celine had a heavy hand in pioneering glamorous grunge. Slimane has long been captivated by younger generations, even inspiring a movement of so-called Hedi boys who embrace his androgynous rock style.
But however deeply Slimane may understand youth culture, his designs also fit squarely in the luxury realm, thanks to their streamlined tailoring and luxe materials. For example, in spring 2021, he staged a runway show for Celine inspired by TikTok Eboys titled 'The Dancing Kid,' long before the industry fully embraced the app. This is the tempered maximalism we saw creep back in on the fall 2025 runways. And the kids are buying into it: 'I know people saving up to buy a $5,000 Celine jacket—they'll sleep in that jacket,' jokes London designer Aaron Esh.
For independent designers like Esh who've been operating on the outskirts of the trend cycle, it feels like the post-TikTok fashion conversation is finally catching up. After three runway shows, Esh has carved out a name as the purveyor of grungy yet sleek clothing that is unafraid to contradict itself. He'll pair a tattered baseball cap with an expensively draped dress and a pair of leather thong sandals. The key to that insouciance? Basing many of his looks on people he personally knows, away from the lens of social media trends. 'There's this subconscious, but also conscious, referencing of real people, which makes the fashion authentic,' Esh says. 'The things that we do reference are completely un-rock 'n' roll,' he adds, making note of the timeless luxury found in'50s Cristóbal Balenciaga or Pierre Cardin's cocoon coats. Ironically, both his indifference to trends and his deference to traditional glamour feel in step with the current countercultural attitude.
In comparison to the whirlwind personal style cycles of recent years, polished rock feels like it has longevity. It cherry-picks glamorous aspects from numerous eras, allowing fans of each—whether they be boho, punk, or grunge—to craft their own interpretation. 'Especially as we go into the fall, there are so many great staples,' Bateman says. 'Skinny jeans, when worn correctly, can actually be really great.'
This story appears in the September 2025 issue of ELLE.
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