Express Fall Ad Campaign Pays Tribute to Y2K Trend, Blending Fashion and Music

Express officially launched its fall advertising campaign "Too Easy to Look This Good" on Monday, releasing a video ad featuring multi-hyphenate musician Tinashe and NFL player Tee Higgins. The campaign name is taken from a lyric in Tinashe's single "Too Easy," which also serves as the ad's background music. Details were exclusively obtained by Marketing Dive.

In the 30-second main video, Tinashe DJs a pool party at the iconic Goldstein House designed by John Lautner in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, with Higgins also on site. Tinashe then steps away from the DJ booth, tries on multiple outfits, and takes to the dance floor. The video was directed by Colin Tilley, choreographed by JaQuel Knight, and produced by London Alley, featuring dancers Aaliyah Beck, Amara Iromaka, Josie Thompson, and Shiori Murayama.

"Fashion has always been a big part of my creative expression and is deeply connected to my music," Tinashe said in a statement. "'Too Easy' is a song about confidence and fully embracing who you are. Express embodies that same confident energy, and it was fun to explore how style, movement, and music come together naturally."

The "Too Easy to Look This Good" campaign will span streaming video, digital channels, social media, print, in-store, and online. The campaign builds on the retailer's "Dress to Express" brand platform launched in February 2025, which emphasizes confidence and self-expression at the core of its marketing.

"This campaign reflects our current brand positioning, where we're investing, and how we're leveraging the 'Dress to Express' platform to differentiate and effectively rebuild brand heat," said Chief Marketing Officer Joe Berean.

Express has been in a rebuilding phase since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2024. Later that year, the retailer and its Bonobos subsidiary were acquired by Phoenix Retail, a joint venture comprising Simon Property Group, Brookfield Properties, Centennial, and brand management firm WHP Global. Berean has been with Express since 2019 and was named Chief Marketing Officer in March 2026.

The marketing push aims to support the fall collection, which offers a modern take on styles from the late 1990s to early 2000s, including the women's Hyper Stretch Bootcut Jean and the new men's Y2K Wash Jean. Previously, Express partnered with women's retail brand Bebe on a similarly Y2K-themed capsule collection.

"The Y2K, '90s nostalgia wave is definitely having its moment, and we're no strangers to it, especially as a brand that played a significant role in that era," Berean said of the "Too Easy" campaign. "The campaign brings together the worlds of fashion, music, and sports, presented in a cool and nostalgic way through this music video inspired by the '90s and 2000s, which was the golden era of music videos."

Meet The Expressionists

To reach its loyal customer base and a new generation of consumers, Express coordinates its content and media strategies. The campaign marks a shift toward more video-led advertising, showcasing dynamic fashion in formats preferred by social media.

"We brought together the right people and the right talent — the worlds of fashion, music, and sports — and then distributed it through formats and cutdowns, based on the music video we created, across a full-funnel media plan," Berean said.

Beyond Tinashe, Higgins, and the dance crew in the video, helping to extend the campaign are The Expressionists — the brand's social-first community launched in February, made up of creators, employees, and brand ambassadors. Such creator communities have become standard practice for retail brands, but few have such a catchy and descriptive name.

"The brand has always been about building confidence and inspiring self-expression in people, so the natural extension was to turn to those we empower, inspire them to express themselves through style, and share it with the world through our brand and marketing power," Berean said.

Previously, the brand's creator-driven campaigns featured celebrity couple Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz Beckham, Hart Denton and Elysée Sanvillé, and professional soccer player Walker Zimmerman.

"We've featured everyone from nano-creators to mega-celebrities, representing style sharing and interpreting the brand through their personal lens, and this new campaign is the perfect next step in that journey," Berean said.

The "Too Easy to Look This Good" campaign launches amid a wave of fall and back-to-school advertising efforts aimed at capitalizing on increased mall traffic from Gen Z and their parents. Berean explained that the campaign will be showcased inside and outside Express stores and will spotlight denim later this month.

"Our goal is to see traffic growth across all channels, including our stores nationwide — which are crucial — and to get this campaign, the video, and all supporting assets widely distributed so we stay top-of-mind heading into the fall shopping season," Berean said.