The goth girl glow-up: How Jenna Ortega’s helping Gen Z rethink this dark aesthetic
Darkening skies and brooding weather over the past few weeks is mirroring a cultural shift in the landscape of fashion: a dark and gloomy goth renaissance is unfolding and you’ve heard it here first. From Spotify’s surge in dark wave listeners to a horror-centric cinema lineup as evident in films such as The Substance, Longlegs and The Watchers, goth’s macabre allure is on the up once again. Hurray (in a lustless and melancholic voice, of course)!
Stars like Jenna Ortega, who had a surprise appearance in Sabrina Carpenter’s deathly ‘Taste’ music video, have also emerged as go-to gothic it girls, serving nothing but pure, unfiltered dark-coquette inspiration for our Pinterest boards. Other Gen Z icons, like musician and model Gabbriette and her doppelgänger Amelia Gray, have also propelled the movement to further heights with their quirky and unique goth glam personas.
Taking over the torch from Gen X goth icon Winona Ryder, this goth renaissance seems to have started when Ryder and Ortega started to promote the sequel to Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice roughly 36 years after the original’s debut.
Ortega plays the daughter of Ryder’s character, Astrid Deetz, and was gracing promotional events in archival Vivienne Westwood corsetry, blood-red tights, and striking pinstripe suits. While the two might be separated in age, they are bonded together through their goth girl vibe, with Ortega providing the modern twist that was needed to revive this moody aesthetic. On the resale platform Depop, searches for “Beetlejuice” soared by 441 per cent from July to August 2024, signalling a broader embrace of goth culture. It’s official, goth girl season is here and we have, in part, Wednesday actress Ortega, to thank for this.
Rooted in punk’s defiance and glam rock’s theatricality, goth emerged as a subculture that celebrates having an outsider identity and being on the periphery of what’s popular. Today, its romantic yet macabre spirit is being rediscovered and reinvented as the goth revival extends to high fashion. On TikTok, #goth boasts 4.7 million videos, while the American goth fashion industry is projected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2022 to $2.3 billion by 2032.
From the avant-garde collections of Dilara Findikoglu to the rise of Rick Owens, dubbed the godfather of goth glam, goth’s influence shows no signs of slowing. Designers like Prada, Valentino, and Khaite embraced black-centric collections for AW24, while others drew on more macabre inspiration. 16Arlington’s ode to This Young Monster celebrates the dark beauty inside monsters and Simone Rocha’s Queen Victoria mourning dress theme for AW24 being prime examples.
The current goth renaissance reflects more than a fashion trend though—it’s a cultural movement. Whether through the clean lines of modern goth, the evolution of corporate goth girlies, the layered aesthetics of trad goth or the rise of clean goth, this celebration of darkness captures the collective mood of a world grappling with anxiety and uncertainty in different aesthetic ways. Is it any wonder our sense of dress reflects the current zeitgeist at a time when only 44 per cent of Gen Z feel prepared for the future and just over a quarter believe their country’s social and political outlook will improve over the next year?
A new age gothic femme fatale aura is entering work environments through harnesses and dishevelled tresses a la the corporate spin on this trend. At the same time, traditional goths honour the original allure that set this subculture in motion in the first place.
@aussiedomxo besties don't copy they match @Mars ⚡️ 🖤 #corporategoth #corporategothoutfits #gothoutfit #gothstyle #gothfashion #workwear #officesiren #besties #gothbff
♬ We are the wirdos - KILLER QUEEN
@cejachel Honestly my new favorite pants 🙌🏼 prepare to be sick of seeing them 🖤 Pants gifted from @Commense #darkfashion #darkaesthetic #styleinspo #moderngoth #grwm #outfitinspo #gothgoth #style
♬ Club De Vampiros - French Police
Whichever way you look at it, this moment in time is a form of escapism, and a stark reminder of our reality. Once the exclusive domain of misunderstood teens and post-punk rebels, the goth style has transformed in the hands of Gen Z, shedding its outsider status.
Instead of belonging to a subculture; Gen Z is making the subculture belong to them. As British writer Tish Weinstock aptly puts it in her book, How to Be a Goth: Notes on Undead Style, goth’s enduring appeal lies in its ability to embrace the eerie, the beautiful, and the rebellious all at once. We’re in the throes of a full-scale goth fashion revival.
