This year’s fashion shows were characterized by the elegant repetition of Saint Laurent, the rock ‘n roll minimalism of Gucci, but also the ribbons of Sandy Liang, the puppy prints of Simone Rocha, Cecile Bahnsen, Molly Goddard and Louis Vuitton’s kidcore features. This trend of vibrant colors and a dreamy mood is inspired by the TikTok generation’s passion for escapism, going back in time and childhood.

The love and nostalgia for a pure and carefree past is not accidental, nor is it surprising. That’s where we all look back to moments when we just can’t face the “adult reality”. It is the memories of childhood and that piece of innocence that is left in the soul that give us the strength to continue.

However, Gen Z it does not simply refer to past objects and memories of a carefree period, but actively returns to it and reshapes it with the knowledge and “weight” of today, that this generation is no longer children, but young adults, called to live and to cope in a world of competition, poverty, war, hypocrisy. The result of this “marriage”, however, we would say is rather creepy.

Dolls and toys lose their innocence and cynically tell stories of betrayal and sadness. In a video of the TikTok user @belatown, Violet from Disney’s The Incredibles comes home early from college to find her mom having sex with her partner. The line “Barbie Life in the Traphouse” her @joliechienne tells the story of Barbie’s dream house, which gradually turns into a drug den, sheltering neglected children.

THE @dolldramaaa created a short 10-part series, beginning with the marriage of an American Girl Doll couple, which falls apart when the jaded husband cheats on his alcoholic wife with a stripper.

TikTok in fact it has become the catalyst and mirror of an obsession, in which the myth of childhood is combined with the problems of adulthood, a truly curious amalgam.

In an age of near total uncertainty about the economic, social and environmental future, the responsibilities of young adults seem unsustainable, resulting in an entire generation turning to the myth of childhood to mentally cope.

Nadira Begum explains: “Nostalgia is essential in the process of recapturing youth, and the release of endorphins that occurs when you see a beloved symbol of your youth is a feeling that cannot be replicated otherwise. When you “push the button” and travel back in time, everything else fades away and you’re suddenly a kid again, free of the burdens of adulthood». Unfortunately, however, the escape from reality can only be temporary: the modern world, with all its complexity, is here and calls you to face it.