Can Fashion Sell a Brat Summer?

Make way for Barbie: 2024 is officially the Summer of Brat.

For the uninitiated (or those offline), being a brat has become a habit in the collective consciousness, or at least on TikTok. Inspired by musician Charli XCX’s latest album, also titled Brat, it can be interpreted as an attitude that is both immature and imperious, messy but still girly. The album’s bright, slimy green cover is a visual personification of the aesthetic’s signature color, but to dress up properly, all you need is a strappy tank top, a BIC lighter, and a pack of fags, Charli told the BBC.

The Brat obsession extends beyond the album. Hulu’s Brat Pack documentary, released last month, brought the corresponding group of 1980s teen stars back into the zeitgeist, and Gabriel Smith’s novel Brat is generating enough buzz to serve as a outfit inspiration on Instagram Ssenses. Less literal interpretations include current pop sensations: Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter and Good Luck singer Babe! Chappell Roan also seem to embody what it means to be a kid with their self-possessed lyrics and playful music videos.

Brat has all the hallmarks of a cultural moment: It’s fronted by a musician who’s reached a new peak of popularity (who’s set to take Brat on tour this fall), it has an identifiable, bold aesthetic, and it’s entering the conversation at an opportune time, early summer. And fashion brands, eager to tap into trends that could boost sales after the success of Barbiecore and last year’s low-key luxury obsessions, are taking notice. (Coincidentally, a Brat-esque green was on the menswear runways at Prada and Gucci last month, and it’s been on the rise for a few seasons now, according to the trend-analysis firm WGSN.)

Brat will undoubtedly shape the way a portion of young people think about dressing in the coming months and, like the trends that have come before it, has the potential to boost brands that fit that aesthetic.

While the term is proliferating online, it’s a bit more cerebral than easily marketable trends like balletcore or coastgranite, which have helped propel sales of products like ballet flats and linen sets, respectively. Capitalizing on the brat will take more than just green tops to break out.

Brands should create references that people can look to. They can look to this moment as inspiration, but it’s not about creating a strict kid aesthetic. That’s the opposite of what it’s about, said Agus Panzoni, content creator and trends spokesperson for Depops.

The trend train

Wild Girl Summer can be considered a sibling to the Wild Girl Summer and Rat Girl Summer themes that have been all the rage on TikTok in summers past. It also shares similarities with Megan Thee Stallion-inspired Hot Girl Summer (think of the brat as her distant, skinny, cool cigarette-smoking cousin) as well as the many trends that took off in the Year of the Girl 2023, including the coquette. It’s also influenced by grunge and early 2000s club aesthetics, says WGSN youth fashion strategist Mia Jacobs.

Still, the rise of brats seems like a significant shift in mood, said Danielle Guizio, founder of her namesake brand known for its influencer-favorite miniskirts and cropped sweaters.

“I felt a certain amount of pressure to dress and act like a very proper, proper woman. It felt like prohibition at times, given the state of the economy and everything that’s going on in the world,” Guizio said, adding that the fun, crazy, free energy of these kids is a huge relief.

The idea is rooted in queer culture and has even been reminiscent of New York’s unofficial Pride Month uniform, said Michael Appler, director of communications for Trendalytics. On the album, Charli XCX sings candidly about difficult topics, including the struggles of being a woman, self-doubt and anxiety about the future and motherhood, adding an element of candor to the girly side, Panzoni said. It also represents a more adult and inclusive evolution of some of the feminine tropes of the past, she added.

Barbie and hyper-femininity [of the past year] Brat’s moves are positioned as an aesthetic correction of an earlier version of feminism, but they’ve also felt like a flattening. Not everyone is a fan of that aesthetic, Panzoni said. This Brat moment offers you an alternative.

While the green hue is essential to Brat, when it comes to fashion, the emphasis on messiness and confidence makes it more about personal style than any particular aesthetic. Panzoni said these are clothes meant to be worn and partyed in. The music video for Charlis’ song “360” features actresses Chlo Sevigny and Rachel Sennott, model Gabriette, and YouTube star Emma Chamberlain in a range of mostly neutral leather jackets, workwear-inspired jumpsuits and vests, plush sweaters, hoodies, short shorts, and a (possibly) wine-stained white tank top.

“It’s a piece of clothing that you can probably pair with things in your closet, it’s really about style and how to wear it, versus I need to go buy this color, this item and this silhouette,” said Divya Mathur, Revolves’ chief merchandising and fashion director.

Brands are getting mean

Brats' visual aesthetic may be less consistent than past trends, but retailers are still finding ways to capitalize on its popularity.

Revolve is planning a brat-centric YouTube series with Chloe and Chenelle Delgadillo, stylists, content creators, and frequent Revolve collaborators. Others have already taken advantage of the opportunity on social media: Coach salespeople are calling the brand's current green bag offering a brat on TikTok.

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Rental platform Nuuly, owned by Urban Outfitters, has noticed that searches for the Charlis Sweat tour, which is set to kick off in September, are starting to pick up, said Kim Gallagher, Nuuly’s executive director of marketing. The company is monitoring whether there’s enough demand to warrant a dedicated edition, as Nuuly did for Taylor Swift’s Eras and Beyoncé’s Renaissance tours, or whether the rental service will simply continue to reference it on social media.

Throughout the summer, Revolves’ homepage will feature a curated selection of brat products, with items it considers to be part of the brat summer realm, from brands like Tyler McGillivary, Miaou, Guizio, Never Fully Dressed and Amor Mia. The retailer will emphasize mobile, where the typical brat consumer likely shops. The page won’t remain static or strictly brats for the rest of the summer. The messaging and products will evolve, but it will continue to draw on the general idea to spark conversation with its younger shoppers, Mathur said.

You can't hunt [trends]“It happens so quickly, you’re either in it, you already have this product, you already have this world, or you’re not,” Mathur said. “And then it’s just a matter of getting the message out and getting it to your customer.”