2020s: More Technology, More Hunger for Humanity

By: Karl Manrique

The 2020s arrived with a wave of technology available to everyone, with tools like those offered by AI. These applications undoubtedly came to make our lives and work easier in many ways, but they also arrived carrying the typical fears that these industrial revolutions always entail. Because, for better or worse, these revolutions always come accompanied by the replacement of human skills, not only in the workplace, but in everyday life and in the mental sphere as well.

As of today, Artificial Intelligence has ceased to be a novelty, although we continue to follow its progress to see how it improves day by day. What it has recently generated, more than greater curiosity, is a profound nostalgia that had already been felt since 2025. And this has even invaded younger generations, those who were born in the digital era, which has even caused them to romanticize what was experienced in the years prior to this decade.

This is not a new topic for Fashion Thinking, as it is a subject I have constantly addressed in past articles, where I have mentioned how the desire for human virtues would rise over time, and this has openly revealed itself in 2026, when we welcomed this year with a social media trend: the return to 2016.

View this post on Instagram

2016

But why was 2016 the year chosen to be remembered? Although various theories circulate on social media, it is mentioned that the cause of this nostalgia is that this year — I believe not only that year is missed, but that entire decade — is remembered as the immediate moment before the current era, or what could be described as that instant that occurred just before everyone’s life became excessively dependent on algorithms and technologies.

A time when life still unfolded mostly in the real moment and not behind a screen, when enjoyment and experience have been exchanged for being performative and aesthetic. And all of this was also felt in fashion.

Full Article