How Gen Z nostalgia for 2016 may revive Abercrombie & Fitch

If you’ve been online in the past month, you’ve probably encountered at least one oversaturated, neon-hued nostalgic post with the caption “2026 is the new 2016.” What started as a social media meme could ignite the fire for a broader shift in the cultural zeitgeist that could also strengthen retail brands synonymous with the era.

This trend has dominated the social media cycle for the past few weeks. An Instagram account linked to Spotify on January 16 It found that user-generated “2016” playlists have increased by more than 790% since January 1, with the addition of top tracks including Zara Larsson’s “Lush Life” and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” The post was titled: “2026 is the new 2016.” The day before, the Instagram account of Hollister, a subsidiary brand of Abercrombie & Fitch, had posted a heavily filtered carousel depicting emblems of 2016, including Polaroid cameras and the typical skinny jeans of the era.

Meanwhile, the relative search volume worldwide for “2016 aesthetic” recently rose to all-time highs on Google, underscoring the growing relevance of the trend.

As the 2016 resurgence continues online, the question on investors’ minds is whether this nostalgia reset will translate into a retail revival for the brands that once defined the mid-2010s. One sign that the nostalgia wave is translating into real-world consumer behavior is that young adults are rediscovering the appeal of physical shopping after years of e-commerce dominance.

“It’s not that they don’t buy most of their products online, but they like to be in the store,” Jan Kniffen, CEO of retail consultant J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide Enterprises, said in an interview with CNBC.

This shift reflects a deeper cultural undercurrent, as younger consumers increasingly find themselves longing for the carefree and familiar comfort of the mid-2010s.

Reset shaped by today’s economic malaise

Social media strategist and owner of Coldest Creative, Joel Marlinarson, first identified the 2016 nostalgia trend in a TikTok post last July that was viewed 1.1 million times. Marlinarson told CNBC that most Gen Zers look back on that era as less performative and more authentic, especially regarding social media.

“I think people see this period as a universal feeling that the world is lighter,” he said.

Jamie Cohen, a digital culture expert and assistant professor of media studies at Queens College in New York, told CNBC that this “consistent retro nostalgia” is a “young adult”ensh*ttiification“social media.

“Of course there is a longing for that period of simplicity in aesthetics, which also leads to fashion,” he said.

Joanne Hsu pointed out a more structural problem: The previous period was defined by a strong post-financial crisis economy supported by low interest rates and inflation. In contrast, Hsu, director of consumer research at the University of Michigan, believes today’s boom is a negative response to high price fluctuations and unstable policies.

“Consumers are thinking about the current state of the economy relative to what it was like in the years before the pandemic,” he told CNBC. “Everything felt so much better before the pandemic.”

Hsu added that price pressures often push consumers to pull back from big-ticket purchases and continue to spend selectively on smaller, feel-good items. He also noted that historically young adults have tended to have more optimistic views than the older population. However, in the last few years, there has been a convergence as the young population has equally negative feelings about the economy.

“What is clearer now is that this is not just nostalgia, but also a form of risk aversion,” Kniffen wrote in an email to CNBC. “When society feels unstable for the consumer, they don’t innovate aesthetically. They revert to the last period that was considered ‘manageable’.”

Kniffen told CNBC that retail trends typically last about 18 months. He predicts that this 2016 nostalgia cycle will remain strong at least until this year’s midterm elections, and he suspects it could last another nine months after that.

“’2026 is 2016′ is not just a trend cycle,” Kniffen said. “Maybe it’s also a coping mechanism. But whatever it is, it’s real.”

We turn nostalgia into retail revival

Cohen, the media studies professor, said brands that could benefit include those that not only evoke rosy times, but also brands that successfully embody the ideals sought by “feeling-driven Generation Z” (more authenticity and less intentionality).

Marlinarson believes the brands best poised to win are those with high awareness that have lost the cultural relevance they had in 2016.

“Those who are using this as an opportunity to remind are brands that have not maintained cultural relevance,” the social media strategist said. “The emotional connection people have with the brands they wore when they were 10, 15 years old will always be something that brands can relate to.”

With the advantage of time, brands has suffered public relations disasters beforefor example Abercrombie and FitchThey now have the opportunity to move on from past controversies.

Abercrombie & Fitch is one company Kniffen believes can ride this 2016 wave of nostalgia; Both the flagship brand and Hollister are in the “right place, at the right time” to capitalize on a 2016-like “peak of casual-yet-hot fashion.”

Cohen said management may have a chance at a comeback as long as the company can successfully “fix all the bad parts.” “There are so many things in the past that are frowned upon today,” he added.

Kniffen sees Levi Strauss is taking advantage of the return to skinny and slim-fit jeans, applauding recent collaborations and collections that have successfully revived old silhouette cuts. In the same direction, American Eagle Clothing Profits can also be made by specializing in “classic denim normcore”. Kniffen said that although the company has struggled recently, there is room for a turnaround given its dominance in 2016.

Kniffen also likes Victoria’s SecretIt was at the undisputed peak of its cultural popularity in 2016. The brand has made solid efforts to regain its position in the market, such as shifting its strategy to focus more on inclusivity and bringing back its fashion show in 2024 after a long hiatus.

Urban Outfitters What Kniffen highlighted as a potential beneficiary was a culturally significant brand that had performed well recently and in 2016, such as Anthropologie and Free People. Stacey Widlitz, president of SW Retail Advisors, applauded Urban’s relatively new North America President, Shea Jensen, as the driving factor behind the company’s ability to successfully identify future trends.

“They’ve been able to be more in touch with what’s really cool, what’s trending, and they’ve been able to capitalize on that, whereas in the past few years the brand had kind of disappeared,” Widlitz said in a CNBC interview. “If there was ever a retrospective nostalgia game, this would probably be the most likely one.”

Coty and Kylie

Another company that can take on this responsibility is the beauty company. cotyThe company that owns the majority shares of Kylie Cosmetics. Founded by Kylie Jenner, the brand’s lip kits were an essential part of her 2016 makeup routine. Malissa Tiwari, social media strategist and owner of Marketing with M, said the company has done a great job embracing the comeback of the era. As evidence, Tiwari pointed to Jenner’s recent collection launch on Snapchat, where she revived the maximalist “King Kylie” persona that took over social media in 2016.

“Kylie, one of the most culturally relevant beauty brands at the time, really used this as an opportunity to position herself as the OG of the celebrity beauty brand playbook,” Marlinarson added.

Jenner was among a group of celebrities who shared a memory from 2016 on her Instagram account. A. Post dated January 15 It received 5 million likes with the caption “You had to be there.”

Friend cosmetics manufacturer elf beauty Another company that Tiwari thinks is leaning towards the 2016 trend is the brand’s choice of Nina Dobrev. star of a recent campaign. Dobrev starred on the CW series “The Vampire Diaries” from 2009 to 2017.

As 2016 sneaker culture rises again, Kniffen announces Foot Locker’s Dick’s Sporting Goods He’s poised to win in 2025. “These retailers benefit every time the ‘retro-core’ cycle revives dead sneaker stocks,” he wrote to CNBC.

Kniffen also sees a chance Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, now owned by PVHCapitalizing on the return to “classic normcore” as the “old of the young” join the trend. TD Cowen retail analyst Oliver Chen highlighted Coach’s ownership. TapestryAs a brand that can win with Generation Z thanks to nostalgia, quality and marketing.

Other social media discourse highlighted publicly traded companies on SnapchatFamous for its flower crown filters, released in the mid-2010s, and VF CompanyLike other companies that own Vans that could lead a turnaround in 2016. Outside of retail, Marlinarson thinks: Coca Cola “could win when company brings back ‘Share a Coke’ campaign”For the New Generation“last year.