With a following that boasts generations of Pinoy creatives, Instagram page 90s Kabaklaan’s talkability, novelty, and crossover appeal are the kind that today’s brands or content creators could only wish to replicate. Created during the lockdown as a tribute to all things queer and campy in ‘90s media, the content it has published up to this point has served various purposes to its 100K+ followers. Beefcake photos have been passed on from one group chat to another, dated TV and movie clips have been made into memes and deemed applicable to present-day situations, and archival fashion content—think Anna Bayle’s last years on the catwalk or scans of the Cojuangco sisters’ Preview Magazine covers—have become conversation pieces among insiders and fans alike. Scan the comments section of particular editorials or runway shows and you may just read backstories from the actual models, photographers, and editors themselves or see their banter with the younger creatives whose careers they inspired.
Victor, the incognito one-man team behind the page, confides, “Knowing that insiders are following [90s Kabaklaan] adds to the pressure [of creating content]. I feel the need to deliver, but at the same time, I need to keep it fun for myself and for everyone.”