How Much Nostalgia Is Too Much Nostalgia?

The fact that 2016 was 2026’s first major trend is telling of culture’s defining obsession: nostalgia. In the months since, Kate Moss has closed Demna’s debut runway show for Gucci in a look nodding to Tom Ford’s iconic Spring/Summer 1997 Gucci collection. Justin Bieber headlined Coachella while streaming his old music videos on-stage, breaking merch sales records and driving sellout for brands like Luu Dan and Loewe .

The Devil Wears Prada sequel hit cinemas 20 years after the first film, with brand collabs from Valentino to Tresemmé. While Ryan Murphy’s Love Story — centered on the relationship between Carolyn Bessette and John F. — reignited fascination with ’90s minimalism and drove resonance for Calvin Klein. Even Tumblr-era It-bags like the Celine Phantom bag resurfaced in Michael Rider’s SS26 collection. “In times of economic, geopolitical and general uncertainty, consumers are drawn to nostalgia because it’s easy to romanticize the past as ‘safer’ or ‘happier’ when the future is uncertain,” says Alice Crossley, deputy foresight editor at The Future Laboratory on fashion’s penchant for mining its past. She also points to the wider structural pressures shaping the industry today. “There’s [also] a drought of creativity for brands at the moment, AI is making every brief feel and sound the same, there’s a general anxiety around AI, and creativity and economic pressures mean it’s harder than ever to win customer loyalty.” As a result, brands are “playing it safe” by leaning into nostalgia, relying on proven strategies they know have worked before, rather than riskier forms of experimentation. Ryan Murphy’s Love Story reignited fascination with 90s minimalist style, driving resonance for Calvin Klein. For Annie Corser, senior editor for pop culture and media at Stylus, we need to reframe how we discuss nostalgia and stop viewing it simply as a trend. “In the digital era, where content and culture can feel quickly disposable, nostalgia is a valuable tool of retention — it helps us stake a claim to our cultural history,” she says. This positions nostalgia not just as a repetition of the past, but as a way of preserving and anchoring cultural memory in an otherwise breakneck media environment. “It’s become a cornerstone of how fans and consumers perceive, build connections with, and make decisions about products, experiences, services, and brands.

Key points

• The Devil Wears Prada sequel hit cinemas 20 years after the first film, with brand collabs from Valentino to Tresemmé.
• While Ryan Murphy’s Love Story — centered on the relationship between Carolyn Bessette and John F.
• — reignited fascination with ’90s minimalism and drove resonance for Calvin Klein.
• Even Tumblr-era It-bags like the Celine Phantom bag resurfaced in Michael Rider’s SS26 collection.
• “In times of economic, geopolitical and general uncertainty, consumers are drawn to nostalgia because it’s easy to romanticize the past as ‘safer’ or ‘happier’ when the future is uncertain,” says A…