It’s the sci-fi fantasy to end all sci-fi fantasies - and the 18th highest grossing film of the ‘90s. Now The Matrix, 21 years after it first hit screens, is back in the news after one half of its directing duo, Lilly Wachowski, confirmed that the film’s narrative can be interpreted as a metaphor for the trans experience.
Speaking to Netflix, the director, who came out as trans, along with sibling and co-director Lana, after the movie’s release said: ‘I’m glad that it has gotten out that that was the original intention. The corporate world wasn’t ready for it.’
For those who haven’t watched the film, its central character, played by Keanu Reeves, is a computer whizz and hacker called Thomas Anderson (AKA, Neo). After taking a red pill, he’s awakened to the fact that the world he has always known is actually the 'Matrix’, a simulated reality of the world before machines took over, and, together with Morpheus and Trinity, begins the struggle to save humankind.
Neo’s costume is suitably sci-fi - slender sunglasses, a swooping trench coat and supersized combat boots, all in pitch black - and over the years has helped him become a pop culture icon and, lately, a surprising sartorial touchstone.
Suddenly, celebrities and influencers, channeling the grunge-minimalism of the '90s, are borrowing straight from Neo's wardrobe. Sometimes it’s a subtle nod (like Rihanna’s slimline shades at 2017’s Cannes Film Festival) and sometimes it looks like a carbon copy of the costumes (see Kendall Jenner, looking very Trinity-esque, in a floor-length leather coat and patent knee-high boots).
With a fourth instalment scheduled for 2022, expect to see the references flowing in thick and fast. For the meantime, keep scrolling to see every time a celebrity has dressed like Neo.
SEE: The Celebrities Paying Homage To Neo
1 of 10Kendall Jenner
Making Trinity's signature - that sweeping leather coat - her own with patent knee-highs and a minidress.
2 of 10Victoria and David Beckham
Taken in 1999, the very same year as the first film's release, just call Victoria and David 'Trinity' and 'Neo'.
3 of 10Kim Kardashian
He never wore shimmering silver, but the protective coat and angular shades are straight-up Neo.
4 of 10Gigi Hadid
Gigi Hadid does off-duty Neo, with a spaghetti-strap top, ripped jeans and cowboy boots in his signature pitch black.
5 of 10Bella Hadid
Bella Hadid channels Carrie-Anne Moss in the slickest of slick leather coats.
6 of 10Rihanna
Neo exclusively wears black, but doesn't this Dior gown-and-glasses combo, seen on Rihanna, feels like a homage to The Matrix?
7 of 10Kourtney Kardashian
Kourtney Kardashian dusts a little Matrix magic on fashion week, wearing black-out shades, a corseted minidress and stomper shoes.
8 of 10Kanye West
For this year's Vanity Fair Oscars party, Kanye did dressed-up Neo, wearing a sculpted leather blazer and supersized shades.
9 of 10Nicole Peltz
She was only four years old when The Matrix first hit screens, but Nicole Peltz does a convincing Neo impression, no?
10 of 10North West
Following in mum and dad's footsteps, North West nails the Neo look.
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