In Design Rewind, AD looks back at the people, places, and things that defined 2025, from ’90s nostalgia to the best place to build a home. (Hint: it’s not on a lot.) Here’s what we saw in the year’s rearview mirror.
Back in February on r/decadology, a Reddit thread devoted to trends, cultural shifts, and eras, one user asked: “Why is ’90s nostalgia so dominant in comparison to other decades?” They’re not wrong. This year spat out a slew of memoirs, memorabilia, and parties celebrating the decade—especially life in New York City—before the turn of the millennium. Both Graydon Carter’s memoir and Empire of the Elite by Michael M. Grynbaum recount how magazines established their chokehold on American culture during the ’90s. Keith McNally’s bestseller, I Regret Almost Everything, takes readers back to the humble beginnings of the not-so-humble restaurant dynasty he still presides over. There’s also DJ and producer Mark Ronson’s memoir, Gene Pressman’s They All Came to Barneys, or the Lorne Michaels biopic from the back half of 2024. We even saw the return of landlines.
The ’90s were, as the title of Carter’s memoir says, When the Going Was Good. Expense accounts funded editors’ lavish lifestyles, and New York stores and restaurants were see-and-be-seen spots. Tech was fairly simple, and “social media” meant passing a newspaper to a friend. Inside people’s private spaces, design was having its own kind of renaissance. A stroll through our ’90s print issues sieves out floral printed sofas, wall-to-wall carpet, varying shades of oyster pink, and the kind of heavy gilding that’s now synonymous with contemporary White House decor. In honor of this year’s obsession with ’90s nostalgia, we’re digging deeper into the decade’s design trends via some of our most apt interiors from the archive.
Vamped Up
The ’90s spawned a slew of undead art, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), and Interview with a Vampire (1994). Vamp makeup—kohl-rimmed eyes and plum lips—raged, goth subculture surged, and fashion designers sent cobwebby lace dresses down the runway. Above, Anna Sui’s home (AD, October 1994) exemplifies the vamp aesthetic of the decade: blood-red lacquered floors, black leather, and an uncanny Diana Vreeland mannequin. Framed portraits and wood detailing are classic gothic go-to’s, as demonstrated in The Players, an NYC actors club (AD, November 1995). We know its not technically ’90s, but lets call Wanda Ferragamo’s candelabra-lit Capri home (AD, September 1989) a precursor to the goth trend, since it looks fit for a vampy dinner party à la Volturi.
Think Pink
Shades of flamingo, magenta, and oyster pink popped in ’90s homes. Even the punks of the era were wearing pink: Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna all used it in their iconography, giving the color a subversive streak. In our archives, it’s clear that Barbra Streisand (AD, December 1993) was a fan—her Beverly Hills home was an ode to a powdered variety of the color. Silken versions appeared as cozy bedcoverings in Winona Ryder’s LA home (AD, May 1994) and coated walls elsewhere (AD, June 1996).
Frilly Florals
In the same vein as wall-to-wall carpeting, the ’90s weren’t afraid of material maximalism. Fabric bunched itself over windows, canopy beds, and frilled out from sofas as skirts. Notably, floral patterns and chintz were a hot ticket item of the time—celebrated designer Mario Buatta was a fan, as pictured above (AD, February 1999). Damask and the like create cozy, homely nooks in residential projects AD featured, including Streisand’s again.
