“2026 is the new 2016.” We’ve seen it everywhere. All over social media, people are posting ombre hair, Starbucks frappuccinos, and throwbacks to big block eyebrows. King Kylie lipkits, Snapchat filters, and the Mannequin Challenge. James Charles’ historic CoverGirl photoshoot. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce. It was fun. It was cringe. It was carefree. But, as we entered the 2020s, pop culture deemed it embarrassing: so why is the trend now resurfacing?
It’s not because 2016 was purely a simpler or easier time. Political divides strengthened as the presidential election culminated in Trump’s first term in office. Between the rise of cream contour and the debut of Stranger Things, a number of major terrorist attacks occurred, as well as the deaths of numerous celebrities. It was a melting pot of political corruption, national tensions, Pokémon Go, and the flower crown filter. It was pre-pandemic, before TikTok had taken hold of every aspect of popular culture. As much as I love the trend, I have no desire to relapse into my wannabe edgy lace choker era.
The rise in popularity of this trend of nostalgia can be partially attributed to Zara Larsson. Larsson, a 28-year-old Swedish singer, made her debut in 2008 when she won Sweden’s national talent show, Talang (Got Talent). After that, in the early and mid 2010s, her songs became era-defining hits, before she experienced a long lull in popularity.
Larsson’s recent international Midnight Sun tour has led to the newfound popularity of her 2015 song “Lush Life,” which started 2026 as #48 on the Billboard Top 100. This song has become one of the norms of 2016 trend resurgences, partially because of the dance-pop, uptempo beat, but also because of the carefree nature of the lyrics, i.e., “I live my day as if it was the last.” Over a decade after her initial popularity, Zara Larsson has become a fashion, social, and cultural icon, inspiring makeup, dance, fashion, and music, all reminiscent of the 2016 era. Lush Life is ensuring that pastel colors and nostalgia are back in style.
It’s not only Zara Larsson, though. The rise in nostalgic popularity also stems from feeling reminiscent of a different, easier time on social media. Nowadays, scrolling through apps like Instagram, users are plagued with highly edited content that doesn’t give the same candid transparency that it did a decade ago. There used to be a time when we were more real in our online presence: it was simpler, more cringey, but more honest. As Gen Z enters a new year, we continually feel nostalgia for the easier, simpler time before we were on social media, when things were more unapologetic. We were robbed of the experience of being real and honest without fear of judgement.
Although I love the Lush Life dance as much as the next person, there’s a way to continue the ideas expressed in the heart of this trend without having to unearth colorful eyeshadow palettes and chokers. Our society has made it an expectation to have such curated online presences and lives; we have raised expectations for what’s real. My solution: I think that we should bring back nostalgia and old trends. The swinging pendulum of fashion sense may never bring us back to skinny jeans, but it can bring us back to honesty online, carefree fun, and the unapologetic feeling of being a teenager.
