the globalization aesthetic
there is a progressive response to the conservative-coded boom boom aesthetic
A few days ago, luxury memeologist Edmond Lau riffed on the boom boom aesthetic and the return of opulence. According to Lau:
For the last 15 years, there’s been a cultural push to project positivity—“light mode,” where the world wore a clean, hopeful facade. Like in a sci-fi movie where pristine white environments mask an insidious truth, this era was defined by pizza parties and mental health seminars trying (and failing) to hold together a crumbling social contract.
Now, in this 'mask-off' era, the vibe has shifted: you’re either a supervillain ruthlessly chasing the bag, a nihilist reveling in debauchery, or ngmi.
Monahan argues that we’re nostalgic for a past vision of modernity. I agree, but with one key distinction: in this postmodern world where everything is broken, we’re not longing for its virtues. Instead, we’re embracing the vices we once dismissed as anachronistic. If nothing matters, then everything—no matter how dark—is fair game.
Just yesterday, Prada’s Fall/Winter 2025 runway was one half chaotic Berlin nightclub and another half 20th-century ballroom. The perfect embodiment of the parallel trends at play.
There’s certainly something to this perspective. Culture often happens on dual tracks. Last decade, the push for inclusivity scrambled this—even if only at the surface level. Think tech oligarchs in flip-flops, celebrities in yoga pants, streetwear as the new fashion vernacular, normcore as the indefatigable trend.
Everyman clothes were everywhere.
You needed to squint to see if the mom jeans were Levi’s or trompe-l'œil Bottega leather. As always, there was a luxe track and an affordable track. But oftentimes these distinctions were invisible to the naked eye and only existed on the purely informational plane. In layman’s terms, it was just about brand.
As we move into the prime twenty-twenties, aesthetic distinctions have returned and displaced brand. Once again, we are acknowledging the social meaning embedded in how we look. These aesthetic distinctions are grounded in value judgments. For boom boom that means embracing the codes of formality, hierarchy, and tradition.
Inevitably, many find this intolerably regressive.
For me, the interesting question isn’t why some people will reject it—plenty of ink has been spilt on that. Rather—
What will those people do instead?