Things were just better in the 90s, weren’t they? Everyone had better hair, and a better mood, the weather was better, TV was better, movies were better, sports were better. It was all just better, right? Right?!
Well, no. Actually, it wasn’t. 90s Britain was pretty much the same as 20s Britain, except there were fewer phones.
But if you go to anyone on the street and ask them, they would all say that the 90s was undeniably a better decade. This is not called reality, however. It’s called nostalgia. When you look that far back – yes, far back, sorry – you tend to remember things far more fondly than you should.
That’s because you’re looking with rose-tinted spectacles – with nostalgia invoking selective memory, you emotionally react to your positive experiences, and you identify that period as being responsible.
Marketing With Nostalgia
As with anything truly heartfelt and lovely, this has become a key marketing tool. The latest company to take advantage of is Umbro – one of the top fashion companies in the world.
With their Percival X Umbro Capsule Collection, they have shown how powerful nostalgia can be in the fashion industry, and how it can draw in more customers than ever.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, of course. While we all look forward to the most anticipated events in the 2024 sporting calendar, many of our hearts remain in the decade of Zinedine Zidane, Paolo Maldini, and David Beckham. And it’s not just this football collab that’s been the first to take advantage.
The Fashion Industry Is Catching Up
But this is a big thing for the fashion industry, because there’s typically a big emphasis on new, new, new. The latest designs always have to push the label and show customers something different and exciting. If a fashion company harkens back to the past, they’re considered old, un-trendy, and “behind the times”.
But now that might all be about to change. The thing about the 90’s inspired X Umbro Capsule Collection is that it recognises how its audience views the 90s, and it celebrates that love and nostalgia with something both old and new. The range is not completely redesigning old jerseys, but appreciating them for what they were, and re-inventing them with a 2023 spin.
The reaction has been immensely positive, too. Just as people will buy re-releases of games they haven’t played for nearly thirty years, they will buy clothes that champion the retro fashion look, connect with their younger selves, and fuel the nostalgia they have for an era long past.
The Power Of Nostalgia
Are we saying that you’re about to see flapper dresses and bonnets in your local H&M? No, of course not. For one thing, this Umbro range is sport-related. People hold strong feelings about football, and those emotions intensify the feeling of nostalgia, which lends a hand in the success of the clothes and how many people are drawn to buy them.
But there is a definite movement happening, in the fashion industry and many other industries outside of it. Nostalgia is a strong driver for many people. In its nature, it clouds judgment. Were 90s sports jerseys really all that pretty? Is old hardware better than new tech gadgets? Was Crash Bandicoot as genius as people like to think it was? No, of course not. But that doesn’t matter, because the memories – and the emotions attached to them – are stronger than the actual reality of what you’re remembering.
Good products are still important, of course. As we said, this Umbro range is clever and beautiful in its own way, and many game re-designs are done with love, care, and detail. But the point is that they didn’t need to be. Nostalgia is an immensely powerful force, and that’s what more companies are beginning to realise.
