Retro Gen Z: Everything is the same, but nothing is the same

At the end of August, the Gallagher brothers announced a reunion tour for their ultra-popular Brit-pop band Oasis. The idea that in 2025, after a full fifteen years of hiatus, they would once again hear beloved hits from the nineties, such as ‘Wonderwall’ or ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, sparked a wave of excitement among millennials, but also, quite unexpectedly, among members of Generation Z. Fans caused chaos on ticket sales platforms, which sold out in record time, even for several thousand pounds. Millennials who failed to secure tickets, as can be read in comments on social media, blame the younger generation, more adept with digital tools, who were faster, more agile, and more persistent than them. Thus, Oasis inadvertently sparked a small generational war – millennials protest because they feel they have a greater right to attend a band that was at the height of its popularity when Gen Z members were not even born.

This quasi-conflict not only revealed the snobbery of millennials in midlife crisis, battered by life and now just wanting to be left alone to reminisce about better times with Oasis; it also uncovered or, better said, confirmed an interesting trend – younger generations are reviving the spirit of the nineties, enjoying a new retro moment. Besides Oasis, which, as reported by Spotify, is listened to by 22 million people monthly, this has also been noticed in the fashion (Y2K style), music (vinyl), and technology industries (digital cameras). From the growth in demand for the latter products, one can actually read the state of mind of Generation Z, their needs, aspirations, and lifestyle shifts, but also answer the question of why now and why the nineties.

Silent status symbols

Namely, the sale of digital cameras plummeted between 2018 and 2021, and then slowly but surely began to rise. According to Statista’s forecast, in the next four years, it could grow at an annual rate of 5.81 percent, and by 2028, it could peak at $25.5 billion in digital sales revenue. Last year, Business Insider columnist Amanda Krause noted that digital cameras are ‘silent status symbols’ and that they will be everywhere this year. Her prediction proved accurate as more and more digital creators on TikTok are advertising analog, and even more digital cameras (cameras) priced around $40. This trend was addressed by the media company Screenshot, which highlighted in a recently published report that the answer to the question of why Generation Z suddenly loves old-fashioned devices so much lies in the fact that 62 percent of young people aged 18 to 25 want to present a more real, less polished version of themselves to the (digital) world; they want to be more themselves, more authentic.

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This wave of retro, claims Screenshot, is different from previous ones because young people are not copying the past, but remixing it; nostalgia and retro elements are combined with digital ones, thus creating a new cultural identity that is, in essence, contemporary and uniquely theirs. And this turn to analog, or analog photography, confirms that it is a more serious cultural change than passing trends like, for example, Barbiecore or cowboy girl. With over 333 million views of the hashtag #analogphotography on TikTok, Generation Z has shown that they are interested in nostalgic, yet simpler technology, and research company GWI confirmed that they are the most nostalgic (even for times they never experienced) and that 15 percent of its members prefer to think about the past rather than the future. They express these thoughts and views on TikTok, which is a digital platform, but unlike, for example, Instagram or LinkedIn where young people who have entered the job market post, it is much more authentic, direct, relaxed, and somewhat raw, allowing users to be just that. Now, is there a better way to demonstrate a rawer (but still cool and somewhat artsy) part of oneself than through unedited, unfiltered photography?

Timeless inspiration

If we are to judge by Screenshot, in addition to the digital camera, all fashion aesthetics of the nineties are good, but also filmmakers who play the analog card, such as Wes Anderson. The unique stylistic signature of this American director has sparked a trend on TikTok titled ‘You better not act like you’re in a Wes Anderson film’. Actually, it would be better to say that it was sparked by young Gen Z member Ava Williams, who photographed and filmed scenes on her commute from her childhood home in Connecticut to her workplace in New York. As she explained, she was perpetually tired, dissatisfied with having to work so far from her family, and then she turned it around, deciding that she would not be a victim but would try to enjoy the moments of her commute. With the help of filters and skillful framing reminiscent of scenes from Wes Anderson’s films, Williams created unique content that other users then began to copy: posting videos and photos of symmetrical compositions, vibrant color palettes, filtered through a film camera filter and specific Anderson-style font. It is no coincidence that Wes Anderson inspires young generations in this way, as he is also exceptionally skilled at combining the old and the new; the plots of his films, especially the aesthetics, do not reveal the time in which they were made; they are timeless but also very retro. This is how the remixed trend at the beginning of the story could be described, with the dominant spirit, directness, and simplicity of the nineties, which is precisely what young people are missing. Therefore, Screenshot advises brands to seriously explore this new retro revival as it goes deeper than pure aesthetics. Through this trend, with digital cameras, Wes Anderson-style content, or something else, Generation Z is actually conveying that it would be wise for brands to detach from polished, glamorized visuals, communicate more directly, authentically, and honestly. It would also be nice for them to incorporate nostalgic elements, where possible, into their marketing communication or strategy, try to modernize it a bit, adapt it to the digital world, and engage with communities of users who have just discovered the culture of the nineties (in the broadest sense), whether it is about Oasis or digital cameras. When it comes to this trend, the new marketing mantra is very simple, sung by Halid Bešlić at the beginning of the new millennium: ‘Everything is the same, but nothing is the same.’