London's Tate Britain has thrown open a new exhibition dedicated entirely to the 1990s, and it's the first of its kind to put the decade's art, photography and fashion side by side. The 90s: Art and Fashion is curated by former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful OBE and gathers more than 100 works from nearly 70 artists, photographers and designers across seven rooms.
The show traces how a newly confident generation of British creatives reshaped culture after the gloom of the 1980s. It opens with the grainy, unpolished photography that defined the era's magazines – think Corinne Day, Nigel Shafran and Juergen Teller shooting for titles like i-D and Dazed and Confused – before moving through rooms on print media and shifting ideas of beauty, with work from Roshini Kempadoo and Eileen Perrier.
Club culture gets its due too. Mark Leckey's 1999 film Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore features alongside images of legendary nights at Manchester's Haçienda and London's Bagley's, while photographers including Dave Swindells, Peter J. Walsh and Tony Davis chart acid house's grip on the decade. The 'Cool Britannia' moment is examined as well, but the exhibition pushes past nostalgia: Chris Ofili's Turner Prize-winning No Woman, No Cry – a tribute to Doreen and Stephen Lawrence – appears, along with work by Hamad Butt responding to the AIDS crisis.
One of the strongest sections, 'Nation's Finest', spotlights Black British creativity through Chris Ofili, Steve McQueen and tailor Ozwald Boateng, offering a counterpoint to the decade's usual greatest-hits retelling. The finale turns toward history and the future, with pieces from Yinka Shonibare, Maud Sulter and Vivienne Westwood.
If you're planning a London trip this winter, this is an easy win: the exhibition runs until 14 February 2027, so there's no rush, but pairing it with the gallery's free permanent collection (home to Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites) makes for a solid half-day in Millbank. Tickets cost £22 for adults, with free entry for Tate members and £5 tickets for 16- to 25-year-olds via the free Tate Collective scheme. The gallery opens daily from 10am to 6pm, and booking ahead through the Tate website is the smart move for weekend slots.
Whether you lived through the 90s or only know them through reruns and reissued fashion, the show doubles as a portrait of Britain at a turning point – messy, inventive and quieter in its political moments than the Cool Britannia clichés suggest.
