Brat summer: What does it mean, why is Kamala Harris embracing the trending aesthetic and why I am not a fan
It was all about Barbie in 2023 and it would seem 2024 is all about the Brat summer thanks to Charli XCX’s latest album ‘Brat.’
Move over Barbie, that was so last year, it is all about the trend of the moment, ‘brat summer.’ It is thanks to megastar Charlie XCX that everyone is going crazy over what seems to be not only the fashion world’s latest obsession but the whole world. Charli XCX will also be bringing the ‘brat summer’ to the Mercury Prize as she made the shortlist with her album, ‘Brat.’
Charlie XCX, whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, has described the viral ‘brat summer’ trend as representing a "girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes."
Charli XCX has also made reference to the ‘brat summer’ aesthetic as an individual who might have “a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra.”
If you want to follow the ‘brat summer’ trend, it would seem that you will need to be a fan of neon green as that is the colour of Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ album. She told Vogue Singapore that “I wanted to go with an offensive, off-trend shade of green to trigger the idea of something being wrong.” She also said that “I ‘d like for us to question our expectations of pop culture-why are some things considered good and acceptable, and some things deemed bad? I’m interested in the narratives behind that and I want to provoke people. I’m not doing things to be nice.”
Mmm, so what does presidential hopeful Kamala Harris have to do with Charli XCX and the ‘brat summer’ trend? Well, on 22 July 2024, Charli tweeted “Kamala IS brat,” and it has so far had 330K likes and 42K reposts. One fan wrote: “This is the biggest endorsement she got today, whilst another said: “BRAT SUMMER IS ALIVE AND WELL.”
Although Kamala Harris is yet to wear a neon lime green suit or a white strappy, Forbes reported that “Soon after Harris announced she would run for president the official @BidenHQ campaign X account rebranded to @KamalaHQ and updates its cover photo to emulate the ‘Brat’ artwork with ‘kamala hq’ in all lowercase in front of a green background.”
Now, Kamala Harris may be a fan of the ‘brat summer’ trend, but will this mean that I am embracing it? Not a chance. Although I adore the colour pink, I was not a fan of the Barbie trend either, but I have to say that the Barbie trend appeals to me more than the ‘brat summer’ trend….
For a start I may like wearing green, but would not dream of wearing lime green, so unflattering! And as for strappy white tops, they are definitely not for me! I am also the last person to have a ‘pack of cigs’ or a ‘Bic lighter,’ and don’t like the idea that you have to sometimes say ‘dumb things,’ so it looks like the biggest trend of summer 2024 will be passing me by…