A return to basics in the face of accelerating technology.

“Nostalgic silhouettes” are the exact words posted 20 hours ago by a young reporter attending the New York Fashion Week’s Coach F/W 2026 collection.

Of course, this is just one of gazillion examples in a global reaction to the last 12 or so months.

The trend continues, with themes at major design and art exhibitions echoing phrases related to craft and hand-made traditions.

Dean Kissick, a writer and art critic was the first to bring it to our attention. Through a polemic, in an article titled, The Painted Protest, published in Harper’s Magazine just over a year ago.

In it, Dean expresses his frustration with the art establishment for clinging to the past, platforming works “almost entirely produced with traditional methods and materials, in recognizable aesthetics, and might as well have dated from half a century ago,” he writes in the article.

He continues, saying the biennials he has visited over the last 8 years have ignored contemporary artists, instead spotlighting “overlooked artists from the twentieth century and exhibited recycled junk, traditional craft, and folk art.”

Finishing the article with, “Art is often best when it’s absolutely deranged. We are irrational, incoherent beings, and artists and writers should embrace this once more. If you believe that artworks cast spells, you should use that magic for greater causes than propagating a polite, liberal American sensibility or evading the effects of modern technology. You are free to dream anything. To build different worlds, to whisper enticements in many ears, to try to destroy reality; these are prospects that artists have dreamed of for centuries. There is still so much to imagine.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a super nostalgic and sentimental creature. But what I think we are all starting to crave, is something new. A conversation with the present. 

That doesn’t mean using AI, but acknowledging that it’s here and “painting” the associated vibes. Avoiding the topic altogether shows fear and disenchantment, but does not address the issue head on.