In case you grew up within the mid-2000s, you didn’t merely watch the Disney Channel, you turned immersed in it. The reveals typically served as springboards for the lead actors (corresponding to Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus, and Raven-Symoné) to turn into family – or, extra precisely, playground – names. Merchandise, albums, and nationwide excursions adopted for essentially the most profitable ones. The commercials between programmes have been, as a rule, adverts for different Disney Channel – affiliated works and merchandise. And if all that weren’t sufficient, there was the unforgettable sparkly aesthetic – bedazzled flip telephones, embroidered denims, hot-pink child tees – that outlined every present. 

Which matches a way in direction of explaining why these reveals are nonetheless indelible to those that got here of age watching them. Simply have a look at TikTok, the place many customers have begun recreating the Disney Channel aesthetic via their wardrobes. This often entails loads of glittery, vibrant materials, short-sleeve shirts worn over long-sleeve ones, and attire worn over saggy blue denims. The matches and silhouettes, which carry the haphazard air of youngsters allowed to decorate with minimal parental interference, have turn into synonymous with Y2K style – or no less than our recollections of it. Working example: when actor Katie Holmes wore a minidress over jeans earlier this month, individuals’s imaginations jumped straight to the Disney Channel. Many on-line drew comparisons to a viral picture of Excessive Faculty Musical and The Suite Lifetime of Zack & Cody star Ashley Tisdale sporting the same getup in 2005.

The particular person behind most of the most memorable Disney Channel outfits? Costume Designer and stylist Cathryn Wagner. She has labored on a few of the most enduringly well-liked reveals within the channel’s historical past: Lizzie McGuire, The Suite Lifetime of Zack & Cody, That’s So Raven, Hannah Montana – oh, and loads of these iconic, “You’re watching Disney Channel” bumpers. 

Nonetheless, the persevering with adoration of her work is information to Wagner. “My neighbour instructed me not too long ago, ‘You recognize, individuals nonetheless watch all that stuff,’” Wagner says, reluctant to be overly sentimental or self-aggrandising about her work. “She instructed me there was a complete resurgence. She mentioned I have to have my very own weblog and discuss all of my work. I mentioned: ‘Nobody cares.’”