How Costumes in the Rachel Zegler-Fronted 'Y2K' Movie Channel Nostalgia

With Y2K-inspired fashion being one of fashion’s dominant trends in recent years, it only makes sense that costumes for the Y2K movie capture the early aughts to a tee. Directed by Saturday Night Live alum Kyle Mooney and produced by Jonah Hill, Y2K combines comedy and horror elements to tell the story of how a 1999 New Year’s Eve party took a twisted turn, leaving two high school juniors fought to survive. The movie stars Rachel Zegler, Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, and Fred Durst. It’s a throwback to an era that significantly impacted culture, from fashion aesthetics to technological advancements. 

Katina Danabassis led the charge on the film's costumes. She has been the sartorial mastermind behind some favorite movies and television series for almost a decade, earning her an Emmy nomination in 2020 for her costume design in Euphoria. For Danabassis, working on Y2K’s wardrobes was a dream project. Cinephiles understand the significance of fashion in a film, as it can develop a character, distinguish them, and become a symbolic look for years to come. Danabassis thus assembled each character's wardrobe with intention, zeroing in on the characters’ individuality. 

Laura, played by Zegler, was a mystery for Danabassis, and it took her some time to find the character through clothing. With Zegler’s Laura character, the Emmy-nominated costume designer tried to find a balance between the stereotypical popular girl and the nerd. She wanted to avoid one overpowering the other because Laura wasn’t just one specific thing to pinpoint. 

“I was like, ‘Let's get her in a brown sweater. Let's get her away from those happy colors just to give her some sort of moodiness and ground her,’” she explains. Danabassis envisioned Laura as the kind of girl who could fit in with the popular crowd and listen to early Christina Aguilera while also being into computers and embracing her inner nerd.  

Danny, a character that serves as Eli's antithesis, required a different approach. His character is flamboyant and sociable, so his style needed to mirror the charisma that attracts people to him: “He's the type of guy that’s flirting with your mom, and you're just like, ‘Dude, stop,’” Danabassis says. She thought of him as the type to wear his dad’s leather jacket and have cool club shirts, so it was important to play with colors and patterns for this character.

Danabassis grew up during the most iconic era, spanning from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, in history and that experience, along with creative collaboration with Mooney, the director, dictated the stylistic approach for this film. “Kyle and Evan had a lookbook, and that lookbook had pretty real high school references,” Danabassis tells L’OFFICIEL, who also looked through old Sears catalogs and a lot of movies.

“I was in high school in that same period, and we were really in sync in that way,” she continued. The synchronicity between the crew created a blueprint for the film to feel accurate clothing-wise while projecting the grandiosity of its cinematic vision. Danabassis wanted apparel to reflect the characters while echoing Y2K clichés: “For someone like Eli, we stayed in a neutral palette; he's a bit of a wallflower, so it's about making him, not basic, but safe.”

As fun as costume designing Y2K was, Danabassis faced challenges as production continued, namely in having a spare for everything. “Danny's shirt was interesting. Like, when you have, like, a custom pattern, or a custom shirt with a pattern, they all have to match, right? So, you need to have enough fabric to match the pattern on each shirt, front, and back sleeves,” Danabassis tells L’OFFICIEL. 

Danabassis shows no signs of slowing down ahead. The costume designer—who has also worked on Past Lives (2023) and Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (2022)—has a busy year ahead. She’s set to work on The Drama, another A24 production starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. In the meantime, with the nostalgia-tinged film premiering this weekend, the costume designer hopes audiences just have fun and enjoy the throwback feelings the film brings. 

“It's a teen comedy, and it's an homage to all the other Y2K movies,” she says. “I hope everybody just has fun watching it.”