How the 1990s look in art and fashion at Tate Britain

Tate Britain opened a show on 1990s art and fashion on 8 October, curated by Edward Enninful. It runs until 14 February 2027.

By Artcestry x Unframed24 Oct 2026, 09:43 UTC2 min read

Photograph of the Tate Britain building in London — Derbrauni. Tate Britain (building), 2025-03-26. Photograph. Wikimedia Commons, Own work | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 | resized

Dates: 8 October 2026 to 14 February 2027
Opening hours: Daily, 10.00 to 18.00
Where: Tate Britain, Millbank, London

Why it matters

The show places Black British designers and artists among nearly 70 names from the decade. Visitors aged 16 to 25 pay £5 through a free youth scheme.

You have until 14 February 2027 to walk through 1990s Britain in one London show. Tate Britain opened it on 8 October as the first show on the art, photography and fashion of the decade. It is open daily from 10.00 to 18.00.

Edward Enninful curated the show with a team of curators from the gallery. His biography in the release calls him the first Black person to serve as Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue.

My own nineties outfits would not survive a museum label.

The context

Nearly 70 artists, photographers and designers are in the show. Over 100 photographs, paintings, sculptures and garments fill the rooms. Names run from Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin to Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood.

What you will see

The rooms follow a clear order, Tate's release explains.

The first room looks at a do-it-yourself grunge style, with work by Corinne Day, Nigel Shafran and Juergen Teller.
Next come magazines, and real people as muses.
Nightlife follows, with acid house, jungle and queer club nights.
Later rooms cover ideas from body horror to minimalism, and designers who blur art and fashion.
The last room looks at Britain's past and future.

One room pairs Cool Britannia with Black British designers. It shows tailoring by Ozwald Boateng, runway footage of Joe Casely-Hayford's presentations and fashion photography by Koto Bolofo.

Black British artists appear elsewhere in the list. They include Steve McQueen, Chris Ofili, Yinka Shonibare, Sonia Boyce and Maud Sulter. The release names Steve McQueen's Bear, from 1993, and Chris Ofili's No Woman, No Cry, from 1998.

Artist Barbara Walker wrote in April that her work would join the show. Her page says the show looks again at a decade that challenged old ideas of beauty and identity. Those themes are central to her practice, the page adds.

How to go

Members enter free. Visitors aged 16 to 25 pay £5 once they join Tate Collective (a youth scheme that is free to join). The release lists no standard adult price, so check before you go.

An audio guide costs £5 and adds views from Enninful, curators and artists. A free late opening runs from 18.00 to 22.00 on Friday 13 November. Film nights follow on 5 December, 30 January and 13 February, with Orlando, Bhaji on the Beach and Babymother, at £15 each.

Would you visit?