Gen X, That’s Hot
Why Gen X’s Creative Instincts Are Resonating
The forgotten generation. Maybe not so much these days. By our rough calculations, over the past year, more than thirty feature stories in major publications have focused on Gen X. It’s been culture pieces, identity essays, economic reports, and, of course, fashion editorials. The slacker generation is suddenly being acknowledged as a force shaping culture, consumer behavior and creative direction.
We think that a big part of the renewed interest comes from how this generation engaged with culture in the first place. For Gen X, “cool” wasn’t something handed to you by your feed. It required intention. A lot of it. You had to search, wander, trade, and discover. Music, art, fashion and ideas didn’t arrive via algorithm. They lived in record stores, book stores, independent magazines, midnight broadcasts (120 Minutes), and scenes that weren’t always easy to find. That process created a different relationship with culture. It wasn’t disposable.
We also note that Gen X also had the advantage of growing up during a very specific window of innovation. Technology opened creative doors, but it didn’t overwhelm them. Cable television, early gaming, cassettes, CDs, zines and niche publications introduced new worlds without drowning out individuality. The internet hadn’t flattened everything yet.
That balance built a certain creative muscle. The generation learned how to make things without templates, edit without algorithms, and generate ideas without relying on data to confirm them. It was a training ground for originality.
Today? Yes, we are advocates and believers that AI offers incredible tools. But they also increase the risk of sameness. People are starting to sense the difference between content created for reach and ideas created with intention. The instincts Gen X developed long before digital overload, like discernment, independence, and a willingness to experiment, create an advantage in this environment. They allow for creative choices that don’t feel manufactured by the system they’re competing within.
The interest in Gen X right now reflects this shift.
It’s “prediction season” after all, and ours is that influence is tilting back toward substance, originality, and taste. The traits that shaped Gen X long before anyone called it a trend. Algorithms can replicate patterns, but they can’t produce edge, depth or timing. Creators who developed those instincts in the analog world still stand out in the digital one.
Our goal is to understand where culture is heading, and this offers a clear signal. In a landscape searching for something genuine again, it makes sense that the spotlight has landed here.
Sweet.
Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?
“It’s a moment, a mood, an ethos and an enduring way of being, the hallmark characteristics of which — anticorporatism, anti-authoritarianism, ironic detachment, artistic independence, an existential horror of selling out and a live-and-let-live philosophy of life — feel like the antidote to a lot of what’s currently wrong in our culture.”
Is Gen X Nostalgia Just Trauma-Bonding?
“There is something a little sad in all the memes that try to capture the essence of my generation of latchkey kids turned cynical slackers.”
What If Gen Xers Are Actually the Cool Ones?
“But, look, some of the coolest people to ever grace the planet are Gen X: Chloë Sevigny, Alexander McQueen, Winona Ryder, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss.”
How Gen X is leading the world in consumer spending
“Gen X’s outsized influence on consumer spending can be attributed to the fact that many members are at the centre of business and family life.”
Gen X Characteristics in 2025: Insights & Data for Brands and Creators
“Gen X is a planner. Unlike younger consumers who browse frequently and make impulsive purchases, this generation tends to schedule purchases around key seasons and life events.”
“The ‘whatever’ generation is ‘whatever’ about being overlooked”
“For all the energy society invests in culture today, little has emerged that feels new, and certainly nothing revolutionary enough to properly outmode the past.”
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“Despite signs of weakness elsewhere, Labor Department data has yet to reflect a surge in layoffs.”
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“From caviar and Dom Pérignon at Mach 2 to the fatal Air France crash of 2000, former members of the Concorde crew revisit the era of supersonic flight”
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SpeedStudio Podcast
Ep. 117 – Flattening Culture, Design Impact, and Performative Sobriety
A one-on-one with Nikki and Chad in the Studio finds them contemplating end-of-year perspectives, the top 5 best steaks ever, a Staplehouse re-discovery, what to tip for counter service, and judging Chad’s 18%. They also chat the flattening of pop culture, resisting fame by not wanting to sell out, how it impacts design in the endurance world, the upcoming SpeedStudio kits, aligning Basso Bikes’ design, and how Nikki’s into white bibs. They somehow then transition to drinking culture, how today’s “sober” doesn’t mean actual sober, how it impacts relationships, and a hot take: sober culture is performative because Americans need to party more.
Everywhere you get podcasts.