THE 90s ARE BACK: TATE BRITAIN CELEBRATES THE DECADE THAT CHANGED ART AND FASHION
From Kate Moss and Alexander McQueen to Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Vivienne Westwood, a major new exhibition at Tate Britain is bringing together some of the most influential names of the 1990s.
Photo Credit: 5. Eddie Otchere Metalheadz Sunday Sessions in the Blue Note, Hoxton Square 1995-1996 (c) Eddie Otchere
Opening on 8 October, The 90s: Art and Fashion looks back at a decade when the boundaries between art, fashion, photography and popular culture began to disappear, and Britain found itself at the centre of a new creative movement. Curated by former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful OBE, the exhibition brings together more than 100 works by almost 70 artists, photographers and designers, capturing the energy, rebellion and extraordinary creativity that came to define the era.
For Enninful, the decade is also personal. In 1991, aged just 18, he became fashion director of i-D, putting him at the heart of a cultural scene that would go on to transform Britain's image around the world.
Photo Credit: 17. Edward Enninful by Adama Jalloh
Visitors can expect some of the biggest names in contemporary British culture, with work by Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Steve McQueen, Chris Ofili, Gillian Wearing, Yinka Shonibare and Sam Taylor-Johnson appearing alongside fashion from Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Hussein Chalayan, Stella McCartney and Ozwald Boateng.
Photography plays an equally important role. Images by Juergen Teller, Corinne Day, David Sims, Nick Knight, Craig McDean and Wolfgang Tillmans capture the faces, fashions and attitudes of the decade, including a young Kate Moss photographed by Teller in London in 1998.
Photo Credit: Juergen Teller, Young Pink Kate London 1998 (c) Juergen Teller, All Rights Reserved
Rather than simply offering a nostalgic trip through the era of Cool Britannia, the exhibition explores why the 1990s became such an important turning point in British culture. Emerging from the economic uncertainty of the previous decade, a new generation of creatives began challenging the traditional rules around who could make art, who could appear in fashion and what British culture could look like.
DIY magazines, underground club culture, grunge and the Young British Artists collided with a new generation of fashion designers and photographers. Art moved into warehouses and unexpected spaces, while fashion became increasingly experimental, provocative and theatrical. Some of the decade's most recognisable artists are represented, including Chris Ofili, whose work No Woman, No Cry became one of the defining British paintings of the period, alongside pieces exploring identity, race, sexuality, class and the political and social realities of 1990s Britain.
Fashion is woven throughout the exhibition rather than treated as a separate world. Designs by Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano sit alongside the photographers, artists and image-makers who helped create the visual language surrounding them.
Photo Credit: Alexander McQueen, AW 1998 Guy Marineau, Vogue, © Condé Nast
It is this collision of disciplines that makes the decade particularly fascinating. The 1990s produced a generation whose influence stretched far beyond galleries and catwalks, helping reshape everything from magazines and advertising to music, nightlife and Britain's international cultural identity. Three decades later, many of the names that emerged during this period remain among the most influential figures in contemporary art and fashion.
For anyone who remembers the decade or has since fallen for its fashion, photography and unapologetically rebellious aesthetic, The 90s: Art and Fashion offers the chance to revisit the moment when British creativity seemed to be rewriting its own rules.
The 90s: Art and Fashion runs at Tate Britain, London, from 8 October 2026 to 14 February 2027.
The gallery is open daily from 10am–6pm.
Free for members.