Millennials Will Be Shocked: Gen Z Is Saying These 2016 Brands Are Relevant Again
If you were old enough in 2016 to have a Tumblr account, stream Lana Del Rey, ask for a Brandy Melville gift card on your birthday, or beg your parents for a Juicy Couture tracksuit come Christmastime, you might want to look away. Some of the fashion brands that defined the mid-2010s are having a very unexpected second act in 2026, and this time, a new generation is leading the charge.
It's funny seeing many of the trendy It items that I tossed by 2020 at the helm of this resurgence, but here they are. Early on, 2026 was marked as the new 2016. People posted photo dumps using retro Instagram filters of the past, took pictures at the pink wall in L.A., and ordered colorful drinks, but we need to talk about the brands that are at the center of this cultural renaissance. Below, find the 2016 brands to be seen in while the iconic year is back around.
Triangl
Remember when a Triangl bikini was the unofficial uniform for every beach vacation in 2015 and 2016? I had to have one back then even though the shipping from Australia took weeks. The brand's colorful, sporty bikinis are popping back up in the fashion conversation, proving that the swimwear millennials thought they'd left behind might actually have another summer in it. Consider this your warning before your old vacation photos start feeling aspirational again.
Brandy Melville
Brandy Melville defined a certain corner of teenage fashion in the mid-2010s, so seeing it resurface feels especially nostalgic. Gen Z's affinity for the brand is less about re-creating the exact outfits of 2016 and more about tapping into its ultra-casual, off-duty aesthetic. The tiny tees, relaxed sweats, and effortless basics suddenly feel very of-the-moment.
FreeCity
Before quiet luxury and minimalist basics took over, FreeCity was the label that made casual clothes feel like a fashion statement. Its graphic sweatshirts, oversize silhouettes, and distinctly L.A. aesthetic are getting a second look as fashion's pendulum swings back toward more expressive, nostalgic dressing. In other words, the sweatshirt you thought was permanently trapped in your 2010s wardrobe might be worth digging out.
Juicy Couture
If there is one brand that instantly transports millennials back to 2016—or even further into the 2000s—it's Juicy Couture. The velour tracksuit has already gone through one major revival, but Gen Z's continued infatuation with nostalgic dressing has kept the brand firmly in the conversation. This time around, the Juicy look feels less like a costume and more like part of a broader appetite for Y2K and early-2010s fashion.
Madhappy
Madhappy was everywhere in the late 2010s, especially among celebrities and the Instagram set, thanks to its colorful sweats and optimistic branding. Now, as Gen Z continues to embrace elevated loungewear and streetwear, the brand's signature pieces feel surprisingly relevant. The lesson? A good sweatshirt with a fun logo really can survive a few fashion cycles.
P.E Nation
P.E Nation's bold, sporty pieces were tailor-made for the athleisure boom of the mid-2010s, when leggings and sneakers were acceptable pretty much everywhere. Now that sporty dressing is having another major moment, the brand's color-blocking, technical fabrics, and retro-inspired silhouettes feel right on time. Gen Z is proving that athleisure may never actually go away. It just gets reinvented every few years.
