10 iconic images capturing the chaotic energy of '90s Brit culture - BBC

It was the last hurrah of analogue, old-millennium life in the UK, as the era's chaotic, thrilling energy spilled into music, fashion, art and hedonism. Now the decade is being celebrated in a major exhibition at Tate Britain.

The 1990s in Britain felt like a collision course of scenes – music, club culture, art, fashion, all vividly spilling into each other. A youthful generation was full of DIY innovations and an appetite for adventure and hedonism. This hot-mess energy fuelled the era's creativity: it was thrilling and chaotic, and often contradictory. Dancefloors might erupt anywhere. Everything from art to restaurant cuisine or stand-up comedy had rock'n'roll swagger. Tate Britain's new exhibition, The 90s: Art and Fashion, channels some of that energy.

Exhibition curator Edward Enninful forged his own path in the '90s, becoming fashion editor at i-D magazine aged 18. "We tend to remember the decade through iconic fashion, art and music, but there was a much bigger shift in who got to participate in culture and whose voices were being heard," Enninful tells the BBC.

"There was a sense that the old hierarchies were breaking down – artists, designers, photographers and musicians were all moving between disciplines, collaborating, challenging conventions and creating new possibilities. Over time, some of that outsider energy was absorbed into the mainstream… I don't see the 1990s as a closed chapter, but as a moment whose influence is still unfolding across British culture."

Back then the pursuit of fun was a serious undertaking – perhaps because the '90s largely happened at night, in realms where boundaries easily blurred. Or maybe this was our "last hurrah" to break the pre-millennial tension. It was an era of creative risk-taking in a world that, now, is continually tuned for the algorithm.

Here are 10 images from The 90s exhibition, each offering a sense of that still-vital energy: to live in the moment, and to feel the future tantalisingly within reach.

1. Rose Lying on Orange Sofa, 56 Brewer Street, Soho, London by Corinne Day (1992)

Corinne Day's naturalistic photography was a world away from 1980s gloss, and it helped to define a starkly different '90s aesthetic. This image, featuring regular model Rosemary Ferguson, was taken for The Face magazine shoot entitled England's Dreaming; it's resolutely gritty yet elegantly androgynous and poetic. Helen Little, curator of contemporary British art at Tate Britain, highlights "this new kind of realism" in The 90s catalogue: "narratives of life and friendship with a casual, unfiltered documentary style characterised by natural lighting and minimal retouching".

2. Alexander McQueen: AW 1998 by Guy Marineau

British designer Alexander McQueen emerged as an enfant terrible of the fashion world in the early '90s – and he sealed his iconic status with sharp designs that entwined beauty and brutality. His creations converged with the art, music and nightlife scenes; his clothes were presented with intense theatricality, as with this climactic scene from his autumn/winter '98 collection (inspired by the martyrdom of Joan of Arc).

"McQueen's fashion shows were subversive and dramatic spectacles, comparable to performance art rather than commercial showcases," writes curator Jessica Vaughan in the exhibition catalogue. "He repeatedly returned to themes of conquest and persecution."

3. Metalheadz Sunday Sessions by Eddie Otchere (1995-96)

Cultural landscapes shifted throughout this decade, and a once-desolate east London district became a creative and social hotbed – fuelled by innovative club nights like Metalheadz, helmed by DJ/producer Goldie at the now legendary Blue Note in Hoxton Square. It was a focal point for jungle music, the fast-paced electronic dance music genre that emerged in the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. Eddie Otchere's vibrant portrait captures the night's irrepressible spirit. "Goldie wanted to incubate a scene built on the talents of a group of like-minded producers and artists for the purposes of throwing jungle culture into the future," Otchere tells the BBC.

4. Bear by Steve McQueen (1993)