5 Reasons to Embrace Gen Z Yellow

Words: Zoya Pon | Photographs: REX Features

What i-D called 'Woke Yolk' Gen Z Yellow is a follow up colour trend to last year's Millennial Pink, which stained everything from clothes to hair to decor, even colouring our food. MP wasn't a trend, it was a damn revolution!

GZY is best suited to the lifestyle of the young and the restless (those born between the 1990s and 2000s), but not exclusive to. After the term was coined by Man Repeller last year, i-D, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Dazed and even the Huffington Post have also confirmed the trending power of the colour. Sales of yellow clothing are on the rise, catwalks and campaigns sport the colour – the likes of Calvin Klein, Nicolas Ghesquière, Prada and Balenciaga – and then look at what's getting the most likes on your feed, all of which is proof that this is no mere trend, it's a colourful cultural connection.

Here's 5 reasons to embrace Gen Z Yellow:

A Shade of the Times

Could it reflect our current restless, hopeful but anxious state and need to live on the edge? i-D theorizes "Yellow is analogous with society's outcasts and outsiders, its unwanted and persecuted, its villains and monsters." What of the difficulty of the colour? While aesthetically pleasing, it's not always so easy to pull off. This, however, is a Gen Z trait, as i-D continues Gen Z'ers "are very into looking bad on purpose in a very stylised way." Ugly sneaker trend, anyone?

Get Zesty

It's more of a citrus revolution because lumo orange, its hazardously difficult-to-match-with-everything-else sister colour, features just as equally on our feeds, tbh. Any fashionista worth their likes on Instagram will tell you that orange is a real crowd pleaser. Whether you decide to go a step further into the citrus colour spectrum might say a lot about your rebel status. Do you dare?

It's Salty

Open a packet of Lays – lightly salted, naturally – for your next photo op. We're serious, yellow has crept onto our plates and please our eyes along with our palates. Stock your shopping cart with crisps, mustard, pineapples (the most Gen Z fruit) and bananas. 

Its Individual, Just Like You

Pick your shade, that's the beauty of GZY, as the connotations that come with the colour are hugely individual. Whether you interpret it as sunshine and positivity or as dangerous neon, it's not limited to the pastel like Millennial Pink was. Instead Gen Z Yellow comes in multiple shades of pastel, brights, mustard and neon and compliments (or clashes) with its IT-colour sister, orange (see above).

There Are No Rules

You can't box it in. GZY is completely open to interpretation, flexible, and what looks good is totally up for debate. What works for you may not work for her, or him, and vice versa. But we can all agree that each unique take on it is equally as delightful.

We take plenty style inspo from virtual Instagram influencer, Lil Miquela, because yes, virtual influencers are now a thing and with over a million followers this 19-year-old digital influencer is literally the future of fashion.

So do like Lil Miquela and wear it in patterns like stripes or plaid, wear it with denim, take cover in a hoodie or bomber, or even wear it on your face in the form of a shocking neon eyeliner.

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