If there’s one trend revival that has come to define 2024, it’s gotta be indie sleaze. We’ve seen everyday teens and celebrities alike co-opting the style in their fashion and in photoshoots like no other this year, but for some, the early 2000’s energy runs deeper than that.
Take, for example, Kim Petras. The pop star’s brand new collaboration with Ed Hardy is a manifestation of decades of early aughts lore that has infiltrated the singer’s aesthetic since she first came onto the scene more than six years ago. Even in those early days (think hits like “I Don’t Want It At All” or “Heart to Break”), you could totally envision the singer wearing an Ed Hardy trucker hat and mini skirt in the recording studio.
“I remember super vividly in high school stealing my sister’s Ed Hardy black long sleeve that she would wear as a dress all the time,” Petras tells PAPER. “My sister was really cool in school and I was not, so I thought it was the coolest thing. [Ed Hardy] is forever burned into my brain.”
The new collection, which marks Petras’ second collaboration with the brand this year, mixes her hardcore Slut Pop aesthetic with the signature Ed Hardy look. It features 12 items, including 10 apparel styles and two trucker hats, which she was heavily involved in designing and pulls from her distinct obsession with Y2K reality TV like The Simple Life and Rock of Love.
But where do the Ed Hardy and Kim Petras multiverses meet? “Well, they meet at a skunk that smokes weed and says ‘famous’ under it,” she says, referencing the brand’s iconic character. “I really relate to that skunk.” In addition to the signature skunk symbol, the pieces include a black zip-up hoodie, denim mini skirt, low waist lounge pants and embroidered leather jacket. Rather than pulling from pop culture, Petras’ moodboard for this collection was more so inspired by everyday people from the early 2000’s who would post pictures in their bedrooms wearing Ed Hardy.
“The inspo is a little more autobiographical than usual,” she says. “Usually, I would just slap Goldie Hawn on any inspiration board and call it a day, but this time around I went a little off the rails and was inspired by a lot of personal imagery from this time from me in Germany coming up, having one Ed Hardy item and feeling cool in it.”
Shot by legendary nightlife photographer The Cobra Snake, who was actually on the ground during the indie sleaze era, the collection is made for the modern day rebel who wants to take slutty selfies in the bedroom. but also rock the apparel on a night out or at a Kim Petras concert. “This collection is something fun I wanted to do for the fans, because they deserve for something to be happening, and I’m so anxious to be getting back to them with music.”
It’s been a busy year for Petras, who finished up touring the world in support of last year’s Feed the Beast and Problematique, and was recently featured on Katy Perry’s “Gorgeous” as well as “Reason Why” by SOPHIE. New music is being worked on, though, she tells PAPER.
“The number one thing I can say confidently is that I’ve been making more songs than ever and I’m really trying to make something that I’ve never done,” she says. “It’s definitely going to be really different for me.”
Ed Hardy x Kim Petras is now available exclusively on Ed Hardy’s online store with brick-and-mortar retailers to follow.
Photography: The Cobra Snake
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