With artificial intelligence, space tourism and endless digital connectivity shaping the future, Gen Z’s widespread obsession with reviving old trends feels like a stark contrast. Over the past few months, flip phones have reentered the market, digital cameras from the 2000s have sold out on Depop and Y2K fashion staples like low-rise jeans and boho tops are trending.
Gen Z’s fascination with nostalgic trends comes from a deeper emotional need to revert back to an authentic, simplistic way of living by bringing back some elements of the past. Many young people are overwhelmed by a world surging with rapid technological change and political uncertainty, not just concerned with the superficial desire to relive the past.
The romanticization of past trends isn’t new. For example, Baby Boomers experienced a post-WWII economic boom and often looked back to simpler, more conservative days of the 1950s, a time they idealized for its perceived stability and family values.
Similarly, the 1980s saw a resurgence of 1960s counterculture, embracing rebellious spirits of recreational drug use and casual sex, and bringing out an artistic expression by politically protesting and attending folk and rock festivals. But these types of nostalgia are different from today’s revival of past trends — the degree of digital saturation in society today plays into this heavily.
Unlike Baby Boomers or Generation X, who weren’t as heavily influenced by a constant digital presence growing up, Gen Z has lived through an overwhelming digital transformation. They aren’t necessarily nostalgic for a time they lived through, but for an idealized version of it. They long to reconnect with a time when moments felt more tangible and interactions more personal.
Digital life, despite keeping people perpetually connected, can sometimes feel isolating. As such, many seek a form of real, human connection to counteract that isolation and disconnection from authentic human interactions. Exploring past trends is one way Gen Z has succumbed to the feeling of being more in touch with the physical world, their emotions and a slower pace of life.
Though innovation drives progress and is crucial for the development of society, people are inherently drawn to what feels natural, familiar and emotionally grounding. No matter how advanced technology becomes, there’s a deep-rooted need for people to feel real moments and physical experiences that remind them they are human.
Unfortunately, Gen Z and the generations to follow will never understand a world without technology and digital life because they never lived in one. From day one, their identities were formed alongside it. The rapid advancement of smartphones, social media and instant access to information on the Internet rose at the same time. Through this nostalgia, they try to recreate more “natural” moments in history — when people were outdoors, laughing with their friends and having uninterrupted conversations –– without bringing up their phone.
Take the flip phone, for example. With it, there’s no doom scrolling, no constant stream of notifications. Just calls, texts and a few icons. There are significant benefits to shying away from the overstimulation of smartphones for a minute, including cutting down on your screen time to make quality time for friends and family and living in the present. It’s learning to notice the little things in life when you aren’t constantly consumed by your phone that count.
Gen Z simply craves human connection, and they’re finding it by bringing back remnants of the ‘90s and ‘00s that remind them of a slower, more authentic world.
Digital cameras — especially grainy, low-resolution ones from the 2000s — have seen a massive comeback for many of the same reasons. When you reach into your pocket to pull out a digicam, you do it with the sole intention of taking photos, not getting distracted by your smartphone and checking all your social media platforms while you’re at it. You take a photo, and that’s it. That’s the beauty of “capturing the moment.”
Y2K fashion fits into this trend, too. Looking past the 2000s low-rise jeans and tiny sunglasses, chiming into even older generations’ experimentations with fashion have allowed young people to reclaim a sense of individuality and playfulness in their personal fashion sense, which often gets lost in today’s digital image of wanting to fit in. It has become more normalized to find your own form of self-expression in your fashion sense by opening up to past trends.
Gen Z’s fascination with nostalgic trends, whether fashion, flip phones or digital cameras, is less about reliving the past and more about emotionally coping with the present. In a world dominated by digital overload and constant change, reverting to old trends allows people to reconnect with a slower, more authentic way of living.
Julia Kremenetsky is an Opinion Intern for the spring 2025 quarter. She can be reached at jkremene@uci.edu.
Edited by Rebecca Do and Joshua Gonzales.