The '90s Youth Icons That Still Influence How We Dress Today

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Get The Look Mens Fashion Collage of Cult 90s films

Most '90s kids, whether they were born in the early or latter part of the decade, have some memories or sense of nostalgia surrounding the counter-cultural movements that came to define the turn of the millennium. They may have wasted countless afternoons playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on the Playstation and listening to the Dead Kennedys, or roaming the beachfront in search of sun, sand and the perfect break. It was a decade devoted to the young and the reckless, discovering that life, quite simply, didn't have to be taken so seriously as we all thought.

It's gone down as an iconic time in the development of youth culture, and one that today's kids still take inspiration from. We've seen how the rise of skate and surf brands like Stussy and Supreme have gone on to become some of the biggest names in fashion. But there was a time when these brands, and the movements that surrounded them, were the epitome of underground, and it was this counter-cultural appeal that generated some of the coolest, and most stylish, films, TV shows and bands of the decade. Here are a few that still inspire the way we live, and dress, today.

Still from 2005 movie Lords Of Dogtown starring Emile Hirsch, Heath Ledger, Nikki Reed, Johnny Knoxville

Z-Boys/Lords of Dogtown
A pair of films that are essential viewing if you've ever pulled on the t-shirt of a skate brand or dabbled on a board, Z-Boys, and the comedy film that inspired it, go back to the very roots of skate culture so you can discover how one of the most influential pastimes of the 20th century, and its style, came to be.

Still from 1995 movie Kids starring Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, and Rosario Dawson,

Kids
It's absolutely not one for the faint of heart, but Kids remains a seminal, and stylishly shot, look at an aspect of how '90s skate culture developed not in affluent beachside areas, but in grungy urban neighbourhoods.

Still from 1993 movie Dazed and Confused starring Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Parker Posey

Dazed and Confused
Yes, it was set in the '70s, but Dazed and Confused, with Matthew McConaughey at the helm of a band of young stoners, draws a direct line between the post-hippie movement and the way party culture and skate culture intermingled in the 90s.

Still image of 1996 movie Trainspotting starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd

Trainspotting, 1996

Trainspotting
About as sharp a turn away from the '70s pool parties of Texas as it's possible to get, Danny Boyle's classic about a band of Glasgow heroin addicts has gained fame as something of a style icon over the years, hitting viewers hard with the reality of drug addiction while serving as a gorgeous ode to a directionless youth culture in post-Thatcher Britain.

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