The 90s revival reflects both optimism and a longing for the pre-digital, analogue age
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/editorial. "The Guardian view on the 90s revival: the end of the analogue age | Editorial | The Guardian." October 9, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The Guardian argues that the current wave of 90s revivals is about more than older people looking back fondly at their youth. It sees a deeper longing for a hopeful, pre-smartphone time when people shared experiences together, which also appeals to young people who never lived through it. That world is gone for good, so the mood is sorrow rather than anger.
Conclusion
The current 90s cultural revival cannot be explained by the nostalgia pendulum alone; it is also a longing for the last analogue decade, a lost world of shared, unmediated experience that is gone forever.
Premises
- There is a widespread 90s cultural revival across exhibitions (Tate Britain's The 90s), music (Oasis and Pulp reunions and tours), theatre (Trainspotting and One Day musicals, National Theatre plays), television and streaming (Love Story, This Life) and fashion.
- The 90s, between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the twin towers, were a period of optimism in which democracy, economics and creativity thrived, at least for some, and ordinary people could become pop stars, designers and artists.
- The 'nostalgia pendulum', in which influential figures such as Edward Enninful curate their own past, is a real factor but is insufficient to explain a revival that spans 30 years and appeals to younger generations.
- The 1990s was the last decade of the analogue age, before smartphones, social media, selfies and streaming; people watched TV, listened to music and danced together.
- The decade is remembered as a time of freedom, possibility and fun for young people, which explains its appeal to Gen Z, who did not live through it.
Assumptions
- Cultural revivals can be explained by identifiable collective emotional motivations such as optimism and longing, not only by market or generational-cycle factors.
- The popularity of 90s-themed cultural products reflects genuine audience longing rather than commercial supply, marketing or franchise recycling.
- Gen Z's attraction to the 90s stems from dissatisfaction with digital life and not from novelty, aesthetics or algorithmic recommendation.
- Analogue-era social experience was more communal and freer than digital-era experience.
- The cultural phenomena cited are representative of a broad societal trend and not a handful of selected examples.