Brat Summer? Charli XCX Is Having A Goth Girl Spring
Cast your mind back to June 2024: the sun was shining, BuzzBalls lined the streets and the neon glow of Brat green was everywhere. The clean girl aesthetic was quaking in its (minimalist) boots while tank tops and micro shorts reigned supreme, and “365 Party Girl” played on a loop as Charli XCX fans took her Brat summer as justification for consuming Glen’s vodka in quantities typically reserved for freshers’ week.
For a few glorious, neon-tinged months it felt as though Brat summer might never end, and our shield sunglasses would be glued to our heads for eternity. But as Charli herself reminds us on “I Think About It All The Time”, we contain multitudes. As does she: while promoting her film The Moment, the star has traded the miniskirts and hedonism of her previous era for something more akin to a goth girl spring.
.jpg)
Charli is back in the spotlight (not that she ever really left), promoting Wuthering Heights (she’s behind the soundtrack) as well as her own mockumentary. It has seen her pivot her wardrobe somewhat – still largely black, but a touch more grown-up. At Berlin Film Festival this weekend, she appeared in a witchy creation by Lou de Bètoly, shortly after walking the red carpet in sophisticated, strapless Saint Laurent. The Moment may be keeping Brat summer alive, but it looks as though the leather hotpants could lie dormant a little longer.