For a time like now, where technology is fast, new and ever evolving, Generation Z continues to look backwards. Phones are faster, music is more accessible and fast fashion makes it easy for people to keep up with the latest trends. The latest trends, though, all seem to focus on items that haven’t been popular for a long time.
Social media has played a big part in bringing these trends back. Brands are incorporating vintage technology into advertisements to appeal more to the audience, or are even giving away free merchandise because they are popular again.
“Fax-4-Fleece” is a recent ploy by the Columbia Sportswear Co. In a couple of posts on social media, Columbia used a fax machine to help showcase and celebrate 35 years of its ’90s fleece. A caption on the company’s Instagram post said, “We’re celebrating 35 years of our iconic fleece by giving away 91 Helvetia Fleeces, the ’90s way.” The post directed shoppers to find a fax machine and fax a number they listed in the caption.
Film photography is another clear example of old trends coming back.
“People want to actually pay for film and things like photo booths,” said sophomore New York University dance major Kate Johnson.
Wirecutter, The New York Times’ product review site, credits this to “a growing wave of digital fatigue.” Digital fatigue is “a state of cognitive and emotional exhaustion resulting from excessive digital demands,” according to a PubMed Central study from the National Institutes of Health.
This new wave of digital fatigue has caused younger generations to turn back to analog. Film photography is cool again. Apps and phone lenses have been made to create the grainy film look of actual film. Johnson said a good example of this is the Old Friend Photobooth, a popular film photo booth in New York City.
A Yelp review of the Old Friend Photobooth said, “Part of the appeal is how simple everything feels. There are no props, filters, or digital effects to distract from the experience. Instead, the focus is entirely on capturing a genuine moment.”
So what trends have made their way back into the lives of Gen Z?
Sophomore Paris Svigos, a New York University dance major, said that her favorite clothing trend that has come back is low-rise jeans and “everything Y2K or early 2000s.”
Molly Chin, a junior public health major at the University of Maryland, even said that the capris she once wore as a kid are trendy too.
“Barrettes and capris were really in when we were 7,” she said.
Whether it’s old technology making a comeback or old clothing trends bringing back what was old at one point brings a sense of comfort and aesthetics to Gen Z.
“I feel like 2000s is such a ‘cool girl,’ vintage aesthetic,” Chin said.