While many of us would go to considerable lengths to keep childhood photos from ever seeing the light of day, special occasions warrant the odd exception. Case in point: In honor of the new Vogue Runway and our launch of never-before-published-online runway shows from the nineties, eighteen designers who were, in one way or another, children of the decade, have agreed to share their personal snapshots here. Ballet recitals, summer camp, school portraits—scroll down for all the juicy pics.
“This is a picture of me and my friend and muse at that time, Jenny Dembrow, aka Jenny Talia. We were photographed backstage at my senior graduation student show from Pratt Institute at the Puck Building. Jenny wore a pink silk organza dress that left little to the imagination and I was wearing a ripped tee and vinyl leggings and my then-omnipresent platform Dr. Martens, which I thought I’d never stop wearing, as I loved how long and thin they made me look!”
“I was already obsessed with blue and white at the age, and also with the sun.”
"This was before I started listening to New Order and Depeche Mode, I swear.”
“I loved ballet as a child, and still do to this day. I studied at Conservatoire Erik Satie in Paris. Here I am performing at nine years old.”
“Undeniably nineties. Safe to say my style has evolved since then, though maybe not my color palette!”
“Smile! Cowboy hat, Marilyn Monroe T-shirt, Versace Jeans denim jacket, Coca Cola, Sicilian earring! Maybe too loud? Oh my god! I had no money but dreamed big! The American Dream. I asked my grandfather to buy me American Vogue with that huge Christian Lacroix beaded cross and denim jeans on the cover! I was dreaming of that cover and still do! The nineties were so much fun! I would go dancing in Taormina. Do you remember that early nineties disco music? Elton John, Prince, and George Michael. Well, that was so sexy—color and Versace silk prints! Gianni Versace was my personal hero and was the perfect soundtrack to the early nineties. Some say it was too much, but Pasolini was too much sometimes and Fellini too. At the end, for me Gianni was the most classic of the designers.”
“I am on a boat with my family in Sicily, near Agrigento, where my parents are from. I cut off one of my [pairs of] white jeans into those shorts. I have to say I was pretty proud, as I couldn’t find cool shorts at the time . . .”
“This was actually at a summer camp—right before we rocked a lip-synching competition where we performed TLC’s “Waterfalls.” Generally, I had Jennifer Aniston hair and experimented with virtually every style of dressing.”—Beatty
“Here s a shot of me and Woody Harrelson when I was interning on the set of White Men Can t Jump. Anything baggy, Cross Colours, overalls, backwards caps, and Timbos were all a major part of my wardrobe back then. I m surprised that both suspenders are buckled for this shot. . . . Usually it was just one.”—Osterweis
“This is from sometime in the nineties. I’m not sure exactly when, but I know it was pre-selfies. I took a photo of my outfits every day for a year. I think I called it an art project, but now looking back, maybe I was storing ideas for later use. Many pics are insane, like dresses worn inside out, camera straps for belts, odd color stories, capes, Björk buns (as seen here), two dresses at once, etc. The year-long series has never been shared, thank god.”
"This is from Christmas 1999, when I was fourteen, in Dublin, Ireland."
"An embarrassing outfit I remember from the nineties involved bike shorts and an oversize T-shirt!"
"In the nineties, I was being very observant of fashion, enjoying it all. My granny is my style icon, which drew me even closer to her. She would process all the fashions of the time in this very educated, wise way—even grunge. Well, I was way more grunge, with a touch of floral.”
"It was all about the statement sock."
“I don’t know whether to love or hate this picture! It was ’95, I was studying at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) in Milan and I was modeling my outfit, at the end of my second year show. The Face magazine was my obsession at the time, and I remember I was so proud of my blond highlights and studded choker. Oh man. I cannot imagine how could I love them, but for sure it’s a sign of that time.”
“It’s so much fun looking back on these nineties photos. Here I’m wearing a Helmut Lang sweater, Hanes tee, and vintage suit pants.” —Leon
“Our style in the nineties was influenced by our time in college going to shows, bonding over food, and hanging out and shopping at the mall.” —Lim
“I was in love with the Gap and obsessed with all the early-nineties ads. My favorite color was red, and I remember wearing my riding pants as everyday pants, paired with brown leather braided belts—from the Gap.” —Pookie
“I remember loving gingham and classic clothes when I was little in the nineties. Once I was a bit older, I used to take beach sarongs and use rubber bands to turn them into dresses—although, I’m not sure my mom ever let me wear them out of the house!” —Louisa
