We’re on the cusp of a landslide Labour election (probably) and there is a certain mood in the air; a prevailing feeling of: things can only get better. While D:Ream don’t seem to be on the cusp of a Sophie Ellis Bexter-style revival (more’s the pity), another full-headed Brit Pop rocker is having his moment in the sun. Again.
Liam Gallagher, or rather, an army of 20-something Gallagher lookalikes have been cropping up all over London. Turn a corner anywhere from Soho to Nunhead, Homerton to Camden, and you’ll bump into one of these doppelgängers. His mod cut has become ubiquitous. “On TikTok, tutorials of Liam Gallagher’s mod-top haircuts have gone viral,” says fashion stylist and trend spotter Lauren Glazer. This is Liamgallaghercore.
The Gallagher-inflected takeover is never more apparent than in Soho, where we hunted down some of the faces leading the charge for the Gen Z army. Snake Denton, a 24-year-old presenter, is one such Nineties devotee. “It was a time of political change,” he says of the decade. “You get New Labour in after 18 years of Tory rule. There’s national pride about our pop culture. It seemed like such an exciting time to be young in Britain,” he says. “There was Alexander McQueen, Kate Moss, Trainspotting…and the football team was good!” Denton’s signature look is pulled straight out of the capital’s vintage shops. Football shirts, scarves, and tracksuits dominate his wardrobe. And the one accessory that goes with everything? His hair.
“If you go to Skehan’s pub in Nunhead you’ll see loads of people who look like Liam or Noel,” Denton says. “Likewise, if you were to stand outside the Adam & Eve in Homerton, you’ll see loads of girls and boys with little mod haircuts or nice little fringes wearing Fred Perry and Adidas tracksuits.” In fact, if you were to saunter down to the Blue Posts on Berwick Street of a Thursday evening, pop into a newsagent on Broadway Market on a Sunday morning, or go to a gig at the Shacklewell Arms on a Saturday night – you’ll probably find you’re never far from a mod top.
The Britpop influence is strong and along with Liam, the Fred Perry swagger of Blur’s Damon Albarn has also enraptured Gen Z. “Nineties bands were the last true rockstars,” says Danny Lomas, 26, model and host of the Dansplaining podcast. For him, the era reminds him of the phrase ‘often imitated, never equalled’. “The obvious icons are from the Britpop side of 90s rock – Blur and Oasis are the main culprits,” Lomas says.
Oldham-born singer-songwriter Andy Goodwin, 22, is a self-confessed messy mod top supporter. “The mod haircut that everyone has now, including myself, is stolen straight from the 90s,” he says. “Everyone looks like they’re going to tell you about their new upcoming band and I fucking love it.” Goodwin even name checks the brands favoured by Britpop bands in his single, ‘Fred Perry Girl.’ “Musicians, they’re the trendsetters,” Goodwin says, “like Damon Albarn in some straight leg jeans, a crew neck and a Harrington – it’s timeless.”
Yet, perhaps the most convincing ‘imitations’ are the two striking Gallagher lookalikes often spotted in the smoking area on the London party circuit: Lennon and Gene Gallagher. Sons of Liam, the brothers rock the messy mod haircut like their father and his brother before them. The dedication with which the new-gen Gallaghers continue the look keeps the trend young. “Lennon and Gene Gallagher are stepping into their father’s footsteps by being very present within the fashion scene,” says social media specialist Kieran Gowan Clarke. “They have been able to adapt a style that their dad made famous and bring it into the current fashion climate.”
Lennon is represented by industry giant Models 1, and has appeared on the pages of L’Officiel, Hommes España, Vogue Japan, and British GQ. He has fronted a Burberry campaign and is the current face of H&M’s much-hyped collaboration with Rokh. Meanwhile, Gene has appeared in campaigns for Adidas and Paul Smith.
Crucially, for cash-strapped Gen Z, the look is affordable. “This is not an expensive look to pull off,” Denton says. “You just need to be thrifty on eBay or know where some good vintage shops are because it’s old sportswear, old football tops, jeans. This is not luxury fashion.” Yet more than that, according to Denton, the appeal of this bygone era is obvious: “It was a time of hedonism and fun. Now the economy’s in the toilet and most young people spent the formative years of their youth during the pandemic stuck at home. We want fun.”
