DKNY and Highsnobiety tapped 194 New York’s buyer, Sofia Pace, to curate a capsule collection that embodies maximalist styling. Capturing the true spirit of New York fashion since 1989—from iconic street style to the latest trends—the vintage pieces reflect the city's energy and attitude.
“Thanks, it’s vintage”—for the sartorially inclined, you’ve heard this one before. It’s the customary reply of every stylish downtown darling upon receipt of one of the dozen daily compliments on their head-to-toe secondhand ‘fit. For the “in” crowd, the remark works as a kindly informative yet assuredly exclusive way of saying “It’ll be tough to find another piece just like this.” And so begins the hunt—to find a piece just like the anonymous icon you spotted traversing eastward on Spring Street or up and down your Depop Explore page.
From Y2K DKNY drop-waist midi skirts to red leather moto jackets with just the right amount of pre-distressed perfection, Gen Z is addicted to discovering the ultimate relic of yesteryear. Is it the theory that clothes simply were made of better quality in the past? Is it an ongoing climate crisis, the plight of a generation raised in the paradoxical rise of “go green” and fast fashion? Or is it the Zillennial desire to be—and have—one-of-a-kind? For 24-year-old archival enthusiast and 194 New York buyer, Sofia Pace, the answer is all of the above. “There was this desire for expression in the early 2000s, and I think young people today are seeing these images and videos circulating on the internet and craving that time before social media blew up," she says. "It was a time where people didn’t care if it was going to be online the next day—it was more fearless, and I think that’s really attractive now.”
Secondhand shopping has escaped the confines of a “pastime” and graduated to a full-on “movement”. Visit any shopping district to witness its proliferation—the neon glow of curated vintage boutiques expands annually, sidewalk racks spill over with pre-loved designer gems, and resellers backlog the postal office line to ship out their recent deals. The future of fashion is, well, the past. What’s old is new again, and the 20-year trend cycle is right on schedule, spitting out low-rise denim, baby tees, and cargo pants like a sartorial time capsule cracked open. Make no mistake: today’s nostalgia economy thrives on the thrill of the hunt.
“I started going to thrift stores as a teenager because I could afford it, but I could also find something a bit more unique and ‘one-offs,’” the vintage vanguard recounts her thrifting origins. After all, why shop remakes when you have access to the real deal, worn-in slouch and prefaded logos to boot? “When brands try too hard to be vintage or overly nostalgic, it just doesn’t hit right. You can tell when it feels too forced or try-hard. True vintage is best because it’s authentic—it’s from a time that really lived, not something redone just for the sake of nostalgia.”
Unlike the past era of mall hauls, the city’s most cutting-edge are sifting through piles at curated thrift boutiques, estate sales, and late-night Depop listings, seeking out pieces that no one else can claim. It’s not just about what you wear—it’s about the pop culture behind it.
“I've been in New York for my whole life, so I just feel like I've always had a finger on the pulse in that sense—through old magazines, photography, archive pages on the Internet,” says Pace. “If you look through photography books from the past, or film and TV, you get to understand that era better.”
Gen Z isn’t just looking for cool clothes—they’re seeking the kind of offline freedom and authenticity that defined the turn of the century. It’s a desire to capture that turn-of-the-century optimism and raw energy that existed before analog went digital.
When it comes to nostalgic goldmines, few brands have the cultural cachet of vintage DKNY. Once the uniform of effortlessly cool city dwellers and now the crown jewel of thrifters, the Donna Karan offshoot was the blueprint for NYC cool in the ’90s and early 2000s, making it a prime target for a new generation obsessed with the era’s effortless energy. The early aughts saw its iconic logo-plastered tanks and flouncey midi skirts on scene-y cool kids who defined the era. Today, those same pieces are skyrocketing in popularity, highly sought after on Depop, and dominating Pinterest mood boards filled with grainy paparazzi shots of peak-era Chloë Sevigny sneaking into The Beatrice Inn or a young Sarah Jessica Parker pounding the pavement in Soho.
Scroll through Instagram or stroll through Bushwick, Silver Lake, or any city’s cool-kid enclave, and you’ll see it—DKNY’s signature mix of polished minimalism and downtown edge, repinned, reinterpreted, and in some cases, copied outright. It’s the leather trenches (yes, buttoned to the top) worn with Tabis, the 2020s’ answer to the ballet flats of the early aughts. It’s the ribbed logo tanks that once clung to club kids under flashing strobe lights. It’s the buttery leather messenger bags that defined minimalist cool, now slung over the shoulders of a generation who grew up watching The Devil Wears Prada on bootleg YouTube clips.
It’s the fashion equivalent of catching lightning in a bottle—a brand that encapsulated an entire moment in time, now being rediscovered by a generation eager to bottle that pre-social-media, uninhibited self-expression energy for themselves. A quick scroll through Depop will turn up hundreds of listings for DKNY staples, often with triple-digit price tags for the real deal from the past. Highly pinned Pinterest boards are flooded with DKNY-heavy ‘fits—think cargo pants paired with oversized, paparazzi-proof sunglasses, midi skirts with one-shoulder tanks, and full-leather ensembles that eat up sidewalk space like a scene straight out of a 2003 rom-com. TikTok thrift hauls feature ecstatic buyers unearthing DKNY gems, while online searches for vintage DKNY continue to climb for its versatility for any aesthetic or “core” a fashion follower selects for the week.
“DKNY was making things for the everyday woman. Their designs were timeless and could be worn again and again and weren't tied to one trend in one moment, the way sometimes brands design now,” says Pace, a possible reference to fashion’s microtrend-laden present. “They also had so many sub-brands that I learned more about through this project—DKNY Jeans, DKNY Sport, and intimates. Those labels seemed more playful and ventured out from what one might understand as ‘DKNY’ while still always keeping a classy, timeless woman in mind.”
Enmeshed in the thrifting scene, Pace recognized that the DKNY hype was real, so she took matters into her own hands. Her answer: a curated 40-piece capsule for Depop that taps straight into the brand’s “sport-technical meets feminine” archives. Armed with an eBay deep dive and a Depop rabbit hole (plus a few holy-grail finds from niche UK sellers), she handpicked leather jackets, slinky skirts, and cyberpunk mesh bags that feel plucked from a grainy aughts tabloid snap. “I would've never known DKNY did some of this stuff,” she admits. Turns out neither did the internet, but they’re eating it up now.
The beauty of archival fashion is its built-in sustainability: an antidote to the fast-paced frenzy of today’s trend cycle. While microtrends may vanish quicker than you can say "Mob Wife Aesthetic," vintage offers longevity, quality, and that unique sense of individuality that mass-market brands just can’t match.
With her curated vintage 40-piece DKNY capsule, Pace is redefining nostalgia for a new generation, proving that the most forward-thinking move might be to look back. Ironic, right? But hey, classics are classics for a reason. In a world dominated by algorithms, nothing feels more original than something that’s already been worn—and loved—before. Looks like you can find ensembles just like your street-style inspo, you just need to know where to scroll.
Click here to shop the curated collection!
