Trend Watch: Mob Wives

Evoking characters from beloved films and shows, like The Godfather, Scarface, Goodfellas and The Sopranos (which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and enjoyed a lockdown-induced resurgence among Gen Zers), TikTok’s viral “mob wife aesthetic” favours both indulgent 1980s glamour and a grandiose, new-money opulence.

Think animal print, bold reds, leather, fur coats, stiletto boots, plunging necklines and figure-hugging silhouettes, while over-the-top jewellery and sparkling embellishments are must-haves.

TikTok audiences love to classify evolving or emerging trends into distinct aesthetics in order to create a cohesive, escapism-led narrative around a popular look. As the audience who engages with these viral trends and aesthetics veers younger, this classification can help with the discovery of personal style and taste while also making it easier than ever to search for like-minded individuals and relevant inspiration. The clickbait names also help to quickly drive up hype, but at their core, these aesthetics are reflective of wider tastes and cultural shifts, and smart brands should be paying attention.

The mob wife aesthetic is no different. A direct reaction to the minimalist #CleanGirl aesthetic (8.7 billion views) and the boom in popularity of quiet luxury, the pendulum now swings towards rough-and-ready hedonism and maximalist, almost ostentatious displays of new money.

Gen Zers take huge sartorial inspiration from film, TV and pop culture, and as mentioned above, their fascination with The Sopranos – and escapist media in general – may contribute to the evolution of these character-driven fantastical trends that let them try on other lives via fashion. Think of The Sopranos as the loud luxury antithesis to Succession’s stealth wealth.

It’s also a spiritual – if even more decadent and luxurious – twin of the “rockstar girlfriend” from Gen Z Style IRL 24/25, pulling inspiration from both the party-fuelled 1980s as well as 2010s indie sleaze and drawing heavily on Americana Gothic influences, which both romanticise and deplore the darker depths of the American dream.

Lastly, the classification of these aesthetics as “mob wife” and “rockstar girlfriend” – as opposed to just “mobster” or “rockstar” – centre the glamorous hyperfemininity at play in these looks, even when visually they lean tougher and more rebellious than other recent girlhood-centric trends.

While consumers can get quickly fatigued by catch-all aesthetic classifiers like “mob wife”, the individual items forming the basis of the look will maintain their commercial and cultural covetability.

Red, leopard print, leathers and furs are all key trends resonating across a variety of Gen Z cohorts and aesthetic allegiances (including the steadily growing indie sleaze revival that’s gaining mainstream momentum this year) and have immense commercial staying power within these cohorts. Expect Gen Zers to evolve even further into “bad taste” aesthetics, embracing kitschy, gaudy and even more subversively “trashy” references.

Additionally, as fashion seeks out fresh updates to the dominant super girly look, sartorial evolutions like the mob wife signal a still decidedly hyperfeminine but more grown-up shift that leans heavily into sultry womanhood over innocence-led girlhood.