In a sea of Barbie pink, there’s been another hue running for colour of the year: deepest, darkest black. Worn head-to-toe, layered up with lace and paired with blood red, our penchant for the dark side has seen a full-scale return of goth girl glamour.

#Gothgirl on TikTok has hit 4.3 billion views, while Lyst have reported searches for Rick Owens, renowned for his gothic pieces, as being up 200%, chokers as up 81% and black items in general by 169%.

So, what was the first clue to its comeback? Valentino’s now iconic AW22 collection. Paraded in front of us back in March 2022, Pierpaolo Piccioli presented a collection made entirely of hot pink (his now infamous Pink PP pantone) and solid black looks. Even the floors, walls and catwalk were dressed in vivid pink.

And Valentino weren’t alone. Givenchy’s AW22 collection featured leather trousers, ripped band tees and loaded up ear stacks. At Burberry, brows were bleached, leather boots hit high up the leg and all-black looks dominated. And at Alexander McQueen, almost every other look took on the shade, complete with pointed boots, clever cut outs and big leather biker jackets.

What followed the first Monday in May, was a Met Gala red carpet packed out in gothic looks, from Kendall Jenner in a billowing Prada gown to Kourtney Kardashian Barker and her now husband Travis in matching black and white looks and Bella Hadid in a Burberry corset dress.

20 years on from its last fashion world domination, this time around, goth is feeling more grungy, less punky. It’s teamed with blood red, OTT accessories and fresh cuts – think cut-outs, chunky loafers and barely-there lace. It’s turning up on red carpets, at weddings and all over the dancefloor (more on that later). Think less pale and pasty, more hot, more cool, more fun.

2022’s gothic pin-ups? The unexpected pop culture icon of the year, Julia Fox, who fast became known for her out-there leather looks and signature smudged eyes. While Megan Fox and partner Machine Gun Kelly dominated the red carpet in matching all-black looks and Hailey Bieber wore everything from floor-length gowns to chunky loafers and opaque tights. Not one to be left out, Kim Kardashian got in on the action, curating her very own Dolce & Gabbana collection for SS23, taking to the catwalk in a body-skimming black dress.

In a refreshing contrast to the saccharine, plastic fantastic pink that’s dominated our feeds this year, the move towards gothcore has been welcomed - with open arms. Reflective of our collective move away from perfection – think the clean girl aesthetic that dominated TikTok – in 2022, goth-inspired looks are less about subcultures, more about embracing a real, messy and chaotic sense of style. Goblin mode (meaning “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy, typically in a way which rejects social norms or expectations”) wasn’t the Oxford Dictionaries’ year of the word for no reason.

And it’s not just the fashion world that’s on board. Goth beauty has been big news too. Pat McGrath introduced gothic looks to the SS23 shows, from Prada’s OTT lashes to Versace’s smudged-out eyeliner. “With Versace’s decadent drama, everyone experienced Dark Rebellious Romance with shades of black, purple and hints of fuchsia creating the look of jewelled smokey eyes,” McGrath told us. “There was also the drama of unapologetically embracing Gloriously Graphic techniques by using eyeliner to accentuate the eye shape and give the illusion of bottom lashes and lots of smudged smokey eyeliner.”

The easiest way to work it into your repertoire? Deep red lips, graphic liner and smoked out eyes.

But the most recent obsession to land gothcore fits on our Christmas wish list? The latest – and maybe last - It girl of 2022, Wednesday Addams. Tim Burton’s Wednesday is set to become one of Netflix’s biggest ever shows. In one month its garnered one billion views, making it one of the most successful releases of the year. And the star of the show, Jenna Ortega, has embodied the goth girl pin up in mind, body and soul with a host of all-black red carpet looks.

Its influence has been vast and fast. Wednesday’s Pulp Fiction-inspired dance has taken over TikTok with 822.2 million views and Lady Gaga getting in on the action. Just a week after launch, Instagram was flooded with lookalikes, as the fashion crowd went in for everything from braids to white shirt and black jumper combos.

The Wednesday effect? It’s here to stay. Welcome to the dark side, you’re going to love it.