2024 has been a huge year for Charli xcx. Apart from a number one album, a sold-out arena tour and seven Grammy nominations, there have been other suggestions of her cultural dominance. ‘Brat summer’ was obviously inescapable, and so were the numerous collabs with brands like Acne, Google, Revolut and Converse – but, until now, there’s been no better indicator of Charli’s imperial phase than the fashion on display at her London show last night. You know you’ve hit the big time when you’ve trademarked both a signature style and a signature colour, and as a sea of Brat green bodies and xcx-clones descended on Greenwich, it was clear that this cultural moment shows no sign of abating.
Of course, fans of one particular artist have always tended to skew similar style-wise, and no one wants to look out of place at a gig – but this felt like something different, akin to the scale we’ve seen at the Renaissance and Eras tours. Rather than putting on their best going-out clothes and calling it a day, Charli fans were intent on communicating their allegiance to the star, and what better way to do that than with fashion? Of course, the ethos of Brat was primarily channelled through the album cover art: one fan arrived in green cargos and a matching cami, a chartreuse belt re-fashioned as a choker; another flipped a Brat tee upside down for an ingenious hood moment; and a third opted for highlighter green tights with black graffiti splotches all over them. And though some people incorporated the colour in more subtle ways – a hair ribbon here, a knitted snood there – others went the absolute whole hog, turning up in head-to-toe green fits, shaggy green coats, and matching dye jobs too.
But, elsewhere, this bunch of 365 party girls channelled the spirit of the moment in other ways. Club kid signifiers were everywhere, with fur moon boots, ripped fishnets and shredded tartan appearing across the arena, along with pleather corsets, sheer mesh shirts and wraparound shades. Other accessories that made appearances were oversized disc belts (brat), a Betty Boop handbag (quite brat) and wired headphones (very brat), but, besides those, it was virtually impossible to ignore the sheer amount of Charli clones who’d arrived en-masse to the O2, so much so that the woman herself could’ve walked right by us and we wouldn’t have known a thing.
Scroll through the gallery above to see all the best Brat looks.
