Dreaming of a better yesterday

Culture is becoming saturated with nostalgia.

Harking back to supposedly better days has always been a core human experience, of course, and one that brands have reliably tapped into.

But we may have now reached peak nostalgia. 

We’re longing for 90s video games, driven by research that shows they were apparently better for kids’ brains than today’s options. We’re retooling reminiscence as an antidote to loneliness. Fast-food chains are leaning into nostalgia as a full-on business strategy.

It’s getting so ubiquitous that Vogue asked how much nostalgia is too much and Vice declared nostalgia is all we have left.

The obsession with nostalgia can be twisted into any hot take you like, which is one of the reasons it’s such a popular topic. But it actually tells us a couple of interesting things.

First, we are failing to imagine the future. Uncertainty has bred fear, and it’s really hard to be creative when you’re curled up into a ball in the corner. AI has given us the ability to create anything and yet we’re far more interested in recreating the past.

Second, we’re not just pining for a different world, but for a different version of ourselves. The first fashion trend of 2026 was 2016. That’s not really nostalgia. It’s barely a decade. But if you’re in your mid-30s, for example, those ten years make a world of difference to your everyday lived experience. One with fewer responsibilities, wrinkles, and hangovers, for a start. 

When the present is hard and the future is foggy, the past looks awfully tempting. But no amount of bomber jackets and band merch can deny reality. It’s 2026. Sorry.