Tweens and teens resurrect ‘flashy’ Ed Hardy, Von Dutch and Stüssy swag amid Y2K-fashion reboot: ‘It’s making millennials cool again’

ed hardy
ed hardy
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Scarlett Metz is stylish beyond her years.

In fact, the high school freshman’s favorite streetwear was originally rocked by hotshots of the early aughts like Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian and the fist-pumping cast of “The Jersey Shore” long before she was born in 2009.

But now, the trendy teen and her fellow Gen Alpha fashionistas are giving the outdated imprint a hardy push back into the spotlight.

Ed Hardy has become a main staple in my wardrobe,” Metz, 15, from Queens, tells The Post. “It’s very cute. I like how the designs are edgy and go back to 2000s style.”

Youngsters are incorporating Ed Hardy into their everyday looks as the 2000s brand regains fashionable buzz. Getty Images
Youngsters are incorporating Ed Hardy into their everyday looks as the 2000s brand regains fashionable buzz. Getty Images
Gen Alphas, Gen Zers and millennials are all leaning into the edgier resurgence of Y2K looks. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post
Gen Alphas, Gen Zers and millennials are all leaning into the edgier resurgence of Y2K looks. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post

Yes, the roaring tiger, tattooed hearts and smiling skull graphics donned by misfit millennials during their youth are now being virally revived by cutesy teeny-boppers everywhere.

Emma Rogue, a vintage boutique owner on NYC’s Lower East Side, tells The Post it’s not the only 2000s fashion house — a 2005 brainchild of late couturier Christian Audigier and the namesake of San Francisco ink master Don Ed Hardy, 79 — that’s having a second wind.

“Ed Hardy is always a top seller,” said Rogue, whose Stanton Street shop shares her last name. “But Von Dutch, Carhartt and Stüssy are definitely in demand with middle and high schoolers, too.”

Rogue says tots, tweens and teens of NYC regularly frequent her store for mid-2000s fashion finds. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post
Rogue says tots, tweens and teens of NYC regularly frequent her store for mid-2000s fashion finds. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post
VIPs such as Kim K, Shakira and Madonna often hit the scene in the funky finery in the mid-2000s.<br> Splash News
VIPs such as Kim K, Shakira and Madonna often hit the scene in the funky finery in the mid-2000s.
Splash News

Indeed, tots, tweens and teens can’t seem to get enough of the gaudy stuff. Pop stars like Charli XCX have even dedicated hit tracks to the grungy garb that’s yet again taking over classrooms and cafeterias.

“A lot of people in my school wear Ed Hardy,” a 15-year-old NYCer told The Post. She shops the line at off-price department stores like Marshalls, or through online marketplaces like Depop and eBay.

“My favorite thing is the sweatpants,” added the youngster, who chose to remain anonymous for privacy. “I think they look really good and I love the style.”

Style influencers have recently turned heads in Ed Hardy during fashion week events worldwide. Getty Images
Style influencers have recently turned heads in Ed Hardy during fashion week events worldwide. Getty Images

Google Trends analytics found that web searches for Ed Hardy have skyrocketed in the post-pandemic fashion world, too.

Interest in the apparel line, now owned by Iconix Brand Group, has remained steadily high in trendsetting states such as New York and California, per the report. It’s even graced the bods of tiny tastemakers during posh New York, Paris and London fashion week shows.

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and her fellow “Jersey Shore” stars were known to storm beaches and boardwalks in fab Ed Hardy finds. Janet Mayer / Splash News
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and her fellow “Jersey Shore” stars were known to storm beaches and boardwalks in fab Ed Hardy finds. Janet Mayer / Splash News
Pop stars such as Britney Spears, as well as rockers and reality TV fashion plates, wore the bold clothes from sun up to nightfall. FameFlynet / BACKGRID
Pop stars such as Britney Spears, as well as rockers and reality TV fashion plates, wore the bold clothes from sun up to nightfall. FameFlynet / BACKGRID

Hollywood haute girls like Bella Hadid are to thank for resurrecting the nearly dearly departed duds — which virtually flatlined in 2009 when “uncool” reality TV dad Jon Gosselin draped himself in the punkish threads.

But Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, 36, exclusively tells The Post that even during Ed Hardy’s darkest days, she always knew it would one day reclaim its stake in fashion.

“I was obsessed with Ed Hardy back in the day and totally here for the comeback,” said the MTV icon. “Ed Hardy never died for me.”

Hadid, 27, who’s influenced 20-somethings and younger to do everything from wearing granny panties to getting “ponytail” facelifts, was spotted in Gotham sporting a white Ed Hardy top as far back as 2021. The shirt featured art of a redfish catching a wave in the brand’s signature Japanese-inspired print.

Hadid set the Ed Hardy reboot in motion in 2021, styling in the label while on a coffee run in NYC. TheImageDirect.com
Hadid set the Ed Hardy reboot in motion in 2021, styling in the label while on a coffee run in NYC. TheImageDirect.com
Petras is one of the many It girls of the day breathing viral life back into the once-outdated brand. Instagram
Petras is one of the many It girls of the day breathing viral life back into the once-outdated brand. Instagram

And in February, “Unholy” songstress Kim Petras, 31, introduced a spring 2024 collection with the trademark entitled “Ed Hardy x Kim Petras.”

Crop tops, booty shorts, tanks and hats from the collaboration are stamped with the Ed Hardy logo in cursive.

Its recent resurgence comes as the avant-garde antithesis to the more glitzy-glam cuts of the Y2K-fashion reboot.

Hadid has been applauded for reintroducing a number of 2000s fashion lines, including Von Dutch, back into the limelight. BACKGRID
Hadid has been applauded for reintroducing a number of 2000s fashion lines, including Von Dutch, back into the limelight. BACKGRID
Hilton and her bigwig cohorts made Von Dutch the “hot” look of the early aughts. WireImage
Hilton and her bigwig cohorts made Von Dutch the “hot” look of the early aughts. WireImage

In recent months, Hadid has been seen in Manhattan toting a crimson bowling bag accessory from Von Dutch — the trucker-chic label that famously outfitted the likes of Jay-Z, Halle Berry and Paris Hilton at the turn of the century.

Timothée Chalamet and rapper Travis Scott have also proudly donned Stüssy gear, inspiring a fresh wave of interest in the badass throwback brand.

Chalamet and other Hollywood headliners have called Gen Alpha and Gen Z eyes to Stüssy and other early millennium brands. GC Images
Chalamet and other Hollywood headliners have called Gen Alpha and Gen Z eyes to Stüssy and other early millennium brands. GC Images
Going against the glitzy grain of most Y2K-inspired styles, newly resurrected brands like Ed Hardy, Stüssy and Von Dutch cater to the more edgy panache of early 2000s fashion. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post
Going against the glitzy grain of most Y2K-inspired styles, newly resurrected brands like Ed Hardy, Stüssy and Von Dutch cater to the more edgy panache of early 2000s fashion. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post

“It’s just this nostalgic aesthetic that kids want to emulate,” said Rogue, adding that older folks are also getting in on the funky fun.

“I even see people in their late 20s and early 30s coming in to buy Ed Hardy,” she revealed. “It reminds them of high school.”

Carhartt is also a favorite, Rogue says. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post
Carhartt is also a favorite, Rogue says. Emmy Park for N.Y.Post

Adeja Crearer, 28, says wowing in a flashy Ed Hardy mini skirt with its colorful etchings and logo plastered across her bottom makes her feel young again.

“I was a preteen during Ed Hardy’s heyday,” Crearer, a digital news producer from the Upper East Side, tells The Post. “It’s a style that brought everyone together back in the day, and it’s having that same effect again today.

“It’s making millennials cool again.”

But Big Apple celebrity stylist Samantha Brown warns old-heads against going overboard with the garb as it’s rising from the ashes.

“With this trend… it’s best left to the younger folks to experiment with it now,” Brown tells The Post. “It has a fresh and youthful feel if you’re a teenager, but for those of us in our thirties, it feels a little inappropriate to revisit these items.”