In case you somehow managed to miss it, the hottest trend this season is brat girl summer courtesy of Charli XCX's sixth studio album, brat, released at the beginning of June. The album and Charli herself have had us all in a collective chokehold ever since its release, so it was no surprise to see the artist covering Billboard's latest issue. Being recognized by the music and entertainment magazine, especially after namechecking the publication in her song "Rewind"? Love that for her.
As for the accompanying photoshoot providing us with alllll the brat girl summer inspo – well, we love that for us. And it's one look in particular from the shoot that really caught our attention: Charli wearing nothing but a grey peplum-waist jacket with a brown leather collar styled with pony hair-heeled ankle boots resembling horse hooves. The ensemble is reminiscent of a centaur thanks to the realism of the boots. It's giving Mr. Tumnus if the Narnia character did brat girl summer.
It's not the first time horses have featured in fashion, with Camila Cabello recently sporting a long blonde tail as part of her own photoshoot for King Kong Magazine. Charli's look is from Seán McGirr’s debut at Alexander McQueen, with the designer sending models clip-clopping down the AW24 runway in the controversial footwear. But the fact they are controversial is exactly why they're so perfect for Charli's brat era.
Take the slime green colorway of the album's artwork, the most recognizable element of the aesthetic. Charli herself is quoted as calling the hue (Pantone 3570-C, FYI) “actually quite disgusting” but she picked it because it “spark[s] a really interesting conversation about [desirability]…".
Elsewhere in the shoot, Charli also wears a Dilara Findikoglu co-ord (scroll through the carousel above to see) consisting of a football jersey-esque red t-shirt with conical bra inserts and matching ruffle-trim micro shorts for a pop princess twist on the athleisure trend. Now that's so Julia. Actually, come to think of it, both of these fits are very Julia Fox. No wonder she's one of Charli's It girls starring in the '360' music video.
Yep, nothing tops this shoot or brat girl summer for us RN.
