GUESS Who’s Back? Becky G Revives the Low Rise

Jeans are such a no-brainer in our everyday wardrobes, yet they have had a surprisingly eventful life. Originally made for manual labour, denim became a symbol of teenage rebellion in the 1950s, found its way into almost every subculture imaginable and eventually earned a place on luxury runways. Brands like GUESS helped shape its place in popular culture, particularly through campaigns that made denim as much about attitude and identity as the clothes themselves. Even the height of a waistband has managed to provoke its fair share of debate. In the 1990s, designers experimented with trousers cut so low that they revealed rather more of the backside than audiences were used to seeing. A decade later, low-rise jeans had made their way into music videos, magazines and wardrobes around the world. Judging by how often we still return to photographs from that period, they have managed to outlive quite a few of the trends that accompanied them.

Take Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake at the 2001 American Music Awards. The two arrived dressed almost entirely in denim, turning what might otherwise have been another red-carpet appearance into one of pop culture’s most frequently revisited fashion moments. Christina Aguilera’s Stripped era brought low-slung jeans, tiny tops and an impressive collection of belts, while Destiny’s Child made coordinated outfits part of their visual identity. MTV broadcast these looks into living rooms around the world, and magazines told readers where to find similar pieces. For an industry built around sound, pop music had become remarkably visual. An album release could introduce an entirely new wardrobe, with clothes helping artists establish the characters, attitudes and stories they wanted to communicate. Madonna had already demonstrated how dramatically a performer could reinvent herself from one era to the next, and the generation that followed made the relationship between fashion and music increasingly difficult to separate. The clothes became part of how we remembered the music, which might explain why an old photograph can still bring an entire era to mind.

Of course, our memories of the early 2000s have become rather selective. We remember the rhinestones, baby tees and tiny shoulder bags, while conveniently forgetting some of the less appealing fashion experiments that accompanied them. Social media has made that selective nostalgia considerably easier to indulge. An old paparazzi photograph becomes a Pinterest reference, a music video resurfaces on TikTok, and suddenly people who were barely old enough to experience the decade are dressing as though they have just stepped out of it. Copying an outfit, however, is rarely the most interesting way to revisit it. Low-rise jeans worn with a cropped halterneck and a rhinestone belt might look straight out of 2002, while the same pair with a structured blazer and loafers could belong to an entirely different decade. Both combinations borrow from the same period, although the styling changes how we recognise the original reference. After all, nobody needs to commit to an entire decade simply because they like its trousers.

Musicians have been borrowing from the past in much the same way for decades. Hip-hop producers built entire tracks around fragments of older recordings, while pop artists have repeatedly returned to familiar melodies and rhythms, introducing them to audiences who might never have heard the originals. Sampling allows something recognisable to take on a different meaning once it enters a new musical context. Designers do something similar when they revisit archival silhouettes and reinterpret familiar details instead of starting from scratch each season. Becky G’s music offers another example of how different influences can come together in contemporary pop. Born and raised in Inglewood, California, she grew up with both her Mexican heritage and the cultural influences of the American West Coast. Her career has moved between Latin pop, reggaeton and regional Mexican music, with her 2023 album ESQUINAS exploring the sounds that connected her to her family’s roots. Rather than treating those influences as separate parts of her identity, she has increasingly brought them together, finding new ways to express the experiences and traditions that shaped her.

Becky G’s personal style draws on many of those same references, combining West Coast fashion, contemporary pop culture and influences from her Chicana heritage. Denim has been a recurring part of her wardrobe, making her a natural fit for GUESS’s latest campaign. Revisiting the denim aesthetic of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the brand introduces ‘The B Jean’, a new interpretation of its low-rise bootcut, with Becky G as its face. “Denim has always been a big part of my style, and there’s something about putting on a great pair of jeans that just makes you feel good,” she says. “I love that the GUESS B Jean campaign is all about being yourself and having fun with your style.”

‘The B Jean’ picks up where the early-2000s silhouette left off, sitting low on the hips before widening into a slim bootcut. GUESS offers two variations, including a classic version and another featuring its signature triangular panel along the side seam. Fireside Dark, Fireside Mid and Re-Life Black give the jeans a vintage-inspired finish, recalling the washes that filled wardrobes two decades ago. The cut might be familiar, although the styling need not follow the same rules. Anyone feeling particularly nostalgic could reach for a fitted baby tee, pointed boots and a rhinestone belt, while a structured blazer or a worn-in leather jacket would take the jeans in another direction. The early 2000s were hardly known for exercising restraint when it came to denim, and there is no reason to start now.

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake probably had more pressing things on their minds at the 2001 American Music Awards than whether their outfits would still be discussed twenty-five years later. Their matching denim looks have since been copied for Halloween, referenced by other celebrities and rediscovered by generations who know the photographs better than the event itself. Nobody could have predicted quite how long those particular outfits would remain relevant, especially when countless other red-carpet looks from the same period have been forgotten. GUESS is returning to a silhouette that has already enjoyed its share of pop-cultural attention, this time with Becky G bringing her own influences into the picture. Whether anyone will be looking back at these particular jeans with the same fascination in another twenty years remains to be seen. Although if fashion’s recent obsession with the early 2000s has taught us anything, it is probably worth holding on to that old pair a little longer.

‘The B Jean Low Rise’ by GUESS launches on 13 October 2026 and is available at selected GUESS stores worldwide, online and through selected retail partners. View more hier.