This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
Nineteen-year-old Aliyah Bah, popularly known as Aliyah’s Interlude (@aliyahsinterlude1), is the creator of the alt-clothing TikTok trend known as Aliyah Core. In 2022, the trend exploded in popularity, with #aliyahcore garnering over 91.4 million views. Bah, who amassed over 2 million followers on TikTok since starting in 2020, told Passionfruit about how she sparked a cultural sensation and built an online community uplifting Black alternative fashion.
For many Black women, social media has created a safe space for them to try out different forms of their style without fear of backlash, and Black alternative culture has long served as a form of self-expression.
Self-dubbed the “Visual Diary of an It Girl,” Bah’s TikTok channel marks the revival of the “It Girl” aesthetic—an extension of the Y2K era popularized by Black fashion icons like Destiny’s Child, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot, Dapper Dan, and others. There’s no such thing as overdressing for Bah, with a unique, hyperfeminine, Harajuku-inspired fashion sense shining alongside her candid video diaries.
