How do you define a generation? How do you account for lived experiences that spill far beyond temporal boundaries? Oscar Wilde said that to define is to limit, and if there’s one thing I do know about Gen Z, it’s that we don’t like limits. In fact, we actively despise them. Whether it’s dismantling gender binaries or making increasingly loud democratic demands, this is a generation that refuses to sit still. And when it comes to bringing home the dough, the cookie-cutter career path is on the brink of extinction. Gen Z creatives are more amoeba than ladder-climbers; they’re constantly metamorphosing, adapting to whatever the world throws their way. And naturally, they’re doing it in style.
Mancie Rathod
Model, documentary photographer
Do you think there’s a ‘Gen Z aesthetic’?
Not specifically—what I see instead is a collective nostalgia, a longing for times that felt freer and more expressive. You can see that fashion, at the moment, is informed by previous silhouettes, styles and designs. I think fast-fashion brands today are trying to flatten us into something colourless and uniform.
If you had a uniform, what would it be?
Light-wash blue jeans, a graphic tank, wooden wedges, my keffiyeh and a quilted flap handbag.
What would you wear to a 9-to-5?
Either a fitted grey cardigan with a plaid midi skirt and black knee-length slouchy boots or a Missoni zebra turtleneck tank with gold neck buttons, black crepe flared pants and a pair of pointy El Dantes heels.
What are your ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ for 2026?
In: I want to learn how to sew—reinvent some of the pieces that I have, upcycle thrifted pieces where the print, pattern and material are cute but just not my style.
Out: Buying from brands that do not care about people, as humans or as consumers.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: vogue.in
