As compared to cargo skirts, not many of the ‘90s trends have managed to make their return quite as successfully. Once the recently resurrected item was the red carpet or seen on tween pop stars who avoids Hollywood paparazzi – worn, with of course wedge thong sandals. Taking the non-conformist supergroup TLC as an example who in 1999 gave the skirt a Western spin, while Destiny’s Child was rarely parted from their cargo and camouflage print during the “Survivor” era circa 2000 of the band.
Coming forward to 2019, the regular appearances on the runway again began happening by the cargos. Take the autumn/winter 2019 menswear show of Prada as an example (Source: Vogue). Quickly fashion editors snapped up the multi-pocketed skirts of the brand later when the nylon fabrication started being reused by Prada that she made fashionable (in 1984, her iconic Vela backpack that she debuted, and in 1994, she introduced nylon to ready-to-wear). It was explained by Mrs. Prada that to her suddenly, nylon started to look more intriguing than couture fabrics. Elsewhere, the founder of Sacai, Chitose Abe, is seen to get the heavy credit with helping others to popularize casual separates that since the early aughts are mixed in with workwear.
Coming forward to 2022, the year where the silhouette is booming on Depop which is the favorite shopping app of Gen-Z. Frantically, they are searching for the hero item, which according to the trend and category manager, Agustina Panzoni of the platform. It is also to be seen that the listings of the skirt style have also come forward to have an increased tenfold; currently, there are over 7000 listings that are labeled as “cargo skirt” (Source: Vogue).
A question that appears usually is how do we style cargos 2.0? And, the answer that comes in is: of course with nostalgic accessories. “From micro-mini to midi and maxi, we see sellers styling cargo skirts with small shoulder bags, baby tees, and vintage items,” asserts Panzoni of what the Depop crowd is doing (Source: Vogue). Mia Regan who is the poster girl of Gen-Z teams her Stella McCartney skirt with her black wedge sandals and a spliced top, while the sporty skirt enthusiast and multi-hyphenate Chakkanna Pryce is all about maximalism.
