{"id":907360,"date":"2026-09-27T12:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T12:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907360\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T12:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T12:38:13","slug":"camos-back-noughties-pops-military-style-is-on-the-march-again-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907360\/","title":{"rendered":"Camo\u2019s back: noughties pop\u2019s military style is on the march again | Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discussing their style while in All Saints, Nicole and Natalie Appleton said earlier this year<\/a> that some things don\u2019t change: \u201cArmy trousers and combat trousers will always be a staple with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

If, for a long time after All Saints\u2019 noughties heyday, the sisters would have known this look was not the height of fashion, things have changed in 2026. Judging by those attending shows at London fashion week this month, camo is very much back.<\/p>\n

Worn with heels, beaded flats, camisoles and shirting, camo trousers became a standout front-row trend, one that had first been spotted at Copenhagen fashion week in August. Vogue described it as<\/a> \u201ca clear winner among the trends we spotted outside the shows\u201d. Fashion editors aren\u2019t alone either: celebrities including Alexa Chung and Iris Law have worn camo recently. And Brad Pitt, promoting his new survival movie Heart of the Beast, looked the part wearing camo trousers and matching jacket this month.<\/p>\n

Brad Pitt at the Heart of the Beast premiere in Tennessee last week. Photograph: Jason Davis\/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures<\/p>\n

Hetty Mahlich, a brand editor at Burberry, was photographed wearing her army surplus camo pants at fashion week. She likes the way they can give a sense of contrast to an outfit: \u201cThey go with a vintage nightdress or a white baby tee, but they\u2019re also great with a heel as I never like feeling too dressed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

A guest wearing camouflage pants during New York fashion week. Photograph: Christian Vierig\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Camo is becoming more popular beyond those in the front row. Searches have increased 108% on the resale app Depop since April and brands ranging from Zara to Marks & Spencer and Adidas are selling it on the high street. Maharishi, the label that dressed All Saints in their camo pants, has enjoyed a revival: it collaborated with Arsenal in 2023 on a popular camo-tinged collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most of the wearers of camo now are looking to the last moment it was fashionable \u2013 with bands such as All Saints and Destiny\u2019s Child in the early noughties. A Grazia article<\/a> post-Copenhagen described camo as \u201ca trend I\u2019ve buried in the place in my mind where Facebook photo albums and concealer lips live\u201d. However, with a generation born at this time now coming of age, the era is being looked at with nostalgia.<\/p>\n

This was when camo went mass market, said Andrew Groves, a professor of fashion design at the University of Westminster. \u201cBy the noughties, camouflage had become completely normalised,\u201d he said. \u201cYou could wear camo trousers without consciously making a military statement. It had become comparable to tartan or leopard print.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the history of camo \u2013 or camouflage \u2013 begins with the military. It was first used extensively in the first world war. By the time of the Vietnam war in the 1960s, camo was also being worn as a statement \u2013 by those in the US opposed to the war. In the 80s, the pattern moved across to high fashion \u2013 after Andy Warhol\u2019s camouflage paintings were used in a collection by Stephen Sprouse in 1987. \u201cBy then it wasn\u2019t simply military clothing any more,\u201d said Groves.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to Fashion Statement<\/p>\n

Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fast forward nearly 40 years and the trend for camo comes with a backdrop of wars around the world. Groves said even with the now-established place in fashion, the military connections remained \u2013 but this might be part of the appeal: \u201cIt carries associations with warfare but also protest and counterculture. That ambiguity is perhaps why fashion keeps returning to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Saints setting the trend. Photograph: Tim Roney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

For Mahlich, the wearers of camo since the 60s mean the military element fades into the background. \u201cI think of it more as a universal pattern,\u201d she said. \u201cMilitary uniforms have been co-opted by subcultures and on the runway for so long that now they have new meanings and associations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discussing their style while in All Saints, Nicole and Natalie Appleton said earlier this year that some things…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":907361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-907360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}