On September 14, 2011, the most iconic Italian advertisement of the moment made its way into popular culture. Belen Rodriguez, dressed entirely in Miss Sixty and push-up jeans, undresses in favor of the room at Basic Instinct, earning censorship. In reality, Miss Sixty is the one brand that has been able to encapsulate the diverse scene of the 2000s, from the heroin-chic allure of Asia Argento to the “pinup” look of Belen.The brand Wicky Hassan and Renato Rossi founded in Rome in 1991 crossed international borders with the help of washed-out, strictly low-waisted denim before mysteriously disappearing after twenty years of success, much like the majority of the brands that defined our adolescence, which first failed before being sold to some Asian multinational. In the wake of the Y2K revival, which has been illuminating the catwalks for some time and has given Miss Sixty items a newfound popularity through Depop, Vinted, and occasionally Vestiare&Co, Crescent HydePark, the Chinese group that acquired the brand, attempts to exhume the brand today after a series of unsuccessful attempts.However, archival material aside, Bella Hadid, who was selected as the brand’s testimonial for the most recent summer campaign and the official face for 2021, is the person most capable of reviving a brand and pulling it from obscurity.

Italian designer and entrepreneur Wicky Hassan, who was born in Libya, chose to start his first casual clothes line, Energie, in 1988. Miss Sixty followed suit in 1991. The latter is targeted solely at female consumers and features vibrant colors, elastane crop tops, groin miniskirts, and low-waisted jeans. It was one of the first products to hit the market and was made in 27 million pieces before being sold internationally. The two brands were combined in the 1990s to form the Sixty Group, a modest Italian conglomerate that also includes Killah, Murphy&Nye, and Refrigiwear.The production portion is located in the industrial district of Chieti, Abruzzo, while the creative offices are in the heart of Rome. While Christina Aguilera, Angelina Jolie, Anastacia, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, and Victoria Beckham declared themselves fans of the brand, they quickly became friends with Hassan, helping to establish the brand as being synonymous with the fixation on denim that characterized the late 1990s and early 2000s—a decade that was prevalent with Made in Italy—and helped make the brand synonymous with that decade.With a global workforce of 2500 people, distribution in 80 countries, five brands in its portfolio, and a facility operating at full capacity that was second only to Renzo Rosso’s Only the Brave in its industry, the group had surpassed 700 million in turnover in 2007. The Asian division of the firm is quickly sold to Trendy International when the financial crisis and the founder’s illness, which occurred abruptly only a year earlier, produce the first losses.The business’s revenue dropped to 542 million in 2008 and to 300 million in 2011, the year of Hassan’s tragic death. As a result, the group was finally sold to Crescent HydePark, a Pan-Asian investment fund, in 2012. Only three years prior, Miss Sixty made a fashion show appearance during New York Fashion Week, following Diane Von Furstenberg and featuring Anne Hathaway in the front row to admire the vibrant models created by Hassan and inspired by a great passion for pop art and comics that she had also turned down in a hotel-gallery in Riccione (and where else? ), the Sixty Hotel.

The Sixty Group hasn’t forgotten its European roots yet; in fact, a project to “reconquer” the old continent through a process of model and production line renewal has been underway for a few years. Meanwhile, the group’s presence on Asian soil has remained constant with 3000 stores across the continent and a dozen single-brand stores in Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom.It may seem odd that the most well-known (and possibly highest-paid) supermodel of the moment has been chosen to serve as a spokesperson for a company that, despite efforts, appears to have completely lost its appeal and creative drive, but Bella Hadid is the only person who could possibly represent the most adored mall brand in Italy. The model said on her Instagram account just over a year ago: «I just signed my new contract as the face of @misssixty… I have accumulated so many antique items from the company over the years, and I can’t wait to pair them with the clothes from the newest line!>>Bella Hadid’s daily attire in recent months has actually devolved into a seemingly casual jumble of Y2K brands thriftati on Depop, the ultimate in fashion for Polyvore nostalgics and Gen Z: vintage adidas basketball shorts, Abercrombie crop tops, Diesel parachute pants, the product of a persistent aesthetic nostalgia, The clothes no longer convey that concise, shocking, and above all recognizable aesthetic that speaks of tissue, footballers, and throne players, of a possibly more carefree , in light of the new releases, which don’t seem to stand out much from the catalogs of fast fashion giants, including basic clothing, chunky sneakers, and chain bags. In fact, today, only the Hassan Miss Sixty logo is still present.