As we’ve recently investigated, there seems to be a nostalgic fervor in the air these days for the style of the early aughts: So-good-it’s-bad fashion of the early 21st century that reminds us of a simpler, perhaps less tasteful, time, when velour tracksuits, hip bone–grazing boot-cut denim, asymmetrical tank tops, and ankle booties paired with airbrushed minidresses was the height of chic. Or was it? During that same era, a five-member rock band was rising up the ranks and the music charts from their downtown New York roots: The Strokes. They brought not only a welcome return of rock ’n’ roll to the masses, but also an indie grunge fashion sense that swept through the closets of their adoring fans.
Julian Casablancas was the band’s lead singer, and he practically became the poster boy for this wave. His uniform of rumpled vintage tees, retro bandleader jackets, and bedraggled jeans was the perfect complement to his scratchy howl of a voice. Bellowing the somewhat indecipherable lyrics of their monster hit “Last Nite” into the microphone, his greasy, unkempt hair plastered to his face, his look was a defiant, cool contrast to the chintzy glam of the era. His fellow band members followed suit in their perfectly disheveled uniforms of secondhand suits, grandpa sweaters, beat-up moto jackets, and scruffy mops of hair. It was a look that certainly belied their Upper East Side breeding, but as the 38-year-old’s recent appearance sheathed in a vintage-inspired racer-stripe jersey for Blood Orange’s “Augustine” video proved, it’s a look that certainly still suits him.
Above, in honor of his 38th birthday, a look back at the best moments of the rocker aughts style Casablancas spearheaded.