The 10s in retrospect.

A few days ago, a nameless decade came to an end and a second nameless decade lay out in front of us.

With this decades name still undecided (though I nominate the twaughts), so is it’s contribution. 

In 2010, Brexit wasn’t a thing, Donald Trump was a reality television star, and the Earth was in the midst of its warmest year on record. This record has since been broken. 

It’s hard to remain optimistic about what the future or our wonderful planet holds, but at Beyond Retro we vow to make the necessary positive changes and provide spaces and platforms for future generations to talk and to express themselves.

Keep reading for Beyond Retro’s decade in retrospect, featuring everything from pop culture moments, fashion highlights that need dissecting as well as the more broader political and cultural issues facing our planet in the years to come.

2010

The first year of the unnamed decade birthed this hit. Thank you, Robyn. 

Pop culture aside, climate change is definitely the most pressing issue of our times. 

2010 was a year of extremes, pushing the conversation to the forefront of public conscience, with global warming taking hold of our planet. It was both overwhelmingly hot and overwhelmingly cold, with sea ice melting and our coral reefs taking irreparable damage. 

2011

2011 was an important year for us, for we opened the doors to our shop in Dalston.

Dalston has since become our events flagship, where we host everything from live music to spoken word nights. Stay up to date with all of our future events by following our Eventbrite. We vow to give climate change our attention, having hosted pop-up events for sustainable fashion brands such as Birdsong and climate change campaigners No Planet B. 

2011 was also the year we said goodbye to both Oprah and Harry Potter. A tumultuous year, indeed.

2012

2012 saw the rise of Instagram, and it's not hyperbolic to say the social network changed the world. Fashion was greatly impacted by this too, with the app soon becoming a stream of brands, trends and pixel-glossed bodies. 

Fashion had to think inside Instagram's 600x600 box, and bold, eccentric pieces became every stylish person essential. 

2012 also saw our very own London host the Summer Olympics, and the opening ceremony saw the Spice Girls reunite much to our glee. 

2013

Ariana Grande was born, pop-cultural speaking, Breaking Bad ended and shocked the world, Jennifer Lawrence trips at the Oscars and becomes America's Sweetheart, Beyonce at the Super Bowl, the birth of the first royal baby, it was Miley Cyrus' world and we were just living in it!

Pop culture in 2013 was, apologies, lit. We have all agreed to leave that word in the 2010s so I had to use it one last time. 

2014

There were three royal weddings in the 2010s. William and Kate, Harry and Megan, and Kanye and Kim. 

2014 saw the union of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. The relationship saw Kim’s chic glow-up, with Kim reaching omnipotent levels of powers and becoming the most famous person on earth. 

Long forgotten gems of the internet also peaked this year. Ice bucket challenge, anyone? Also, this infamous photo?

2015

In 2015, a controversial ad campaign featuring a model in a bikini that asks 'are you beach ready?' was (for whatever holy reason) blasted on the London underground. It received an uproar, and was rightly banned by advertising watchdogs, sparking the body-positive movement that will come to define activism and feminism in the 2010s. 

Fashion wise, 2015 saw the rise of normcore. Phoebe Philo stepped out as creative director of Céline after the brand's SS15 show, donning a chic messy bun, hair tie on her wrist, Adidas Stan Smiths ... it was so simple, yet so perfect. 

And so, the rise of gray sweatshirts, Birkenstock's, Balenciaga trainers. The song of the year was Drake's Hotline Bling, the video of which soon went viral. 

In hindsight, 2015 was pretty sweet. 

2016

Speaking of body positivity… in 2016, Sports Illustrated chose plus-size model Ashley Graham as its swimsuit edition cover star. Graham went on to walk for body-positive fashion brand Christian Sirano, plus Michael Kors and many more. 

The same year, brands such as Marc Jacobs, Levi's and Swarvoski used plus-size models for their own campaigns and model Killian Mercadro starred in ads for Diesel and Calvin Klein, posing proudly in her wheelchair. 

The world took notice, and with role models becoming models, systematic change into the way we think about bodies took place. 

It wasn’t all good, however. 2016, like every year of the decade, saw many stories involving human-caused climate change. Britain voted to leave the European Union, and the debate has dominated British politics ever since.

2017

Tiny. Sunglasses.

That’s all.

Oh, and that thing we wish we could all forget: Donald Trump became president of the United States. But #metoo gathered steam and encouraged much needed discussion about equality. 

2018

A yodelling boy went viral and Black Panther stormed theatres. 

2019

Politics became more divisive, memes became sacred, and a Swedish teenager made the world take notice of the climate crisis. Oh, and a another key step - "climate change" became openly discussed as a crisis  - an emergency - and a debate that has infused new life into a need for a more sustainable future. 

For the 20s, we hope that our world leaders make real steps towards tackling the seriousness of climate change. We hope that activists like Greta Thunberg and Autumn Peltier continue to fight for our planet and communities, all of us facing direct and immediate impacts.

As the 2010s came to a close, Australia was (and is) on fire. You can help from the U.K. by donating if you are in the financial position to do so, some select charities include: NSW Rural Fire Service, Queensland Fire and Rescue and Red Cross. 

Most importantly for 2020, we are hoping for a decade of positive change for our future, and we're excited to see what the 20s bring...