It’s fall, but ‘brat summer’ is far from over. Here’s the latest clue
Lime green has been having a moment, and you can thank Charli XCX’s hit album, “Brat,” for that.
Since the 32-year-old singer released “Brat” on June 7, the album — and its electric aesthetic — has dominated pop culture at all levels, from underground clubs to political memes.
“Brat” was even featured in The New York Times’ mini crossword on Sept. 23 with a clue that read “2024 Charli XCX album with a lime green cover.”
The high-energy dance pop album touches on partying, Von Dutch and womanhood, to name a few themes, and has inspired TikTok dances, marketing campaigns, and fashion trends, leading very online fans to coin the term “brat summer.”
Having evolved from the now-iconic album cover to a whole aesthetic, “Brat” is now a lifestyle embraced by Gen Z and millennials alike.
Though summer has officially ended, the “brat” trend is still going strong — at least according to Charli XCX, who wished her fans a happy “Brat autumn” at an album release party at Storm King Art Center on Oct. 10.
The singer’s highly anticipated remix album, “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat,” debuted on Oct. 11, featuring new collaborations with artists like Ariana Grande, Caroline Polachek, and Bon Iver.
Charli XCX is also taking the brat aesthetic on the road as she performs her co-headline arena show with Australian singer Troye Sivan on the North American “Sweat” tour, which began in Detroit on Sept. 14 and ends in Seattle on Oct. 23.
Does this mean brat summer will extend into brat autumn? Here’s everything you need to know about the trend, from viral dances to unexpected collabs.
What is ‘Brat Summer’?
The brat summer trend is inspired by British singer Charli XCX’s hit album “Brat,” which was released on June 7 and debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts.
Fans were particularly taken by the album’s distinctive yet minimalistic cover art: “brat” written in low-res font on a lime green background.
Soon after the album’s release, Gen Z christened it the season of the brat, an aesthetic trend defined by party animal antics, cool-girl style, and lime green everything.
With its messy, carefree vibe, brat summer borrows elements from other similar TikTok trends like feral girl summer and rat girl summer.
The trend quickly took over TikTok, with tens of thousands of posts under the hashtag #bratsummer.
While the word “brat” usually evokes feelings of middle school angst, brat summer is all about accepting your imperfections while embracing the chaos.
In an Instagram post on June 8, Charli XCX described the “brat” album ethos as “me, my flaws, my f— ups, my ego all rolled into one.”
She further explained the meaning of “brat” in a TikTok video.
“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes. Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like, parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat,” she said in the video.
‘Brat Summer’ Trends
“Brat green” quickly became the color of the season, a far cry from last summer’s ubiquitous Barbie pink.
For some New Yorkers, brat green is inescapable: Charli XCX kicked off the “Brat” album release with a live performance in front of a giant green wall in Williamsburg.
The brat wall was repainted to promote remixes and deluxe editions of the album (“brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not”) before posting its final message, “ok, bye!” on July 2.
Beyond the official album merch — including, naturally, a lime-green crop top emblazoned with “brat” in giant, low-res letters — the brat ethos also infiltrated summer fashion.
“Brat” style is a far cry from the “clean girl” trend that dominated viral fashion in 2022. It celebrates sweaty, party-girl chaos: smudged eyeliner, grungy street style, and plenty of Y2K inspiration.
Charli XCX described the brat aesthetic in an interview with “The News Movement” on June 10.
“It can be like, so trashy,” she said. “Just like a pack of cigs and and a Bic lighter. And like, a strappy white top with no bra. That’s like, kind of all you need.”
Brat, TikTok and the Viral “Apple” Dance
One of the most viral brat trends on TikTok is a high-energy dance routine to the song “Apple” from the album.
TikTok creator Kelley Heyer, a longtime Charli XCX fan, created a dance routine to “Apple” that quickly went viral among the singer’s fan base.
Watching her dance go viral has been “amazing and at times overwhelming,” she told TODAY.com.
Charli XCX herself posted several TikTok videos of herself performing Heyer’s “Apple” dance.
Heyer was “starstruck” to see her idol performing her choreography.
“It makes me so happy,” Heyer said. “It’s so cool how everyone has elevated my dance into something so much bigger.”
To Heyer, “brat is everything.” The brat ethos, as she describes it, involves elements of partying, authenticity and community.
“Brat is party, brat is fun, brat is messy, brat is sexy. Brat can be anything,” she said.
“Brat” Remixes and Deluxe Versions
Charli XCX has kept the “brat summer” momentum going with multiple “Brat” remixes and rereleases.
Just three days after “Brat” dropped on June 7, Charli XCX released a deluxe version of the album called “brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not.”
The deluxe album included three new tracks, “Hello goodbye,” “Guess,” and “Spring breakers.”
To the internet’s delight, Charli XCX released a surprise remix of “Girl, So Confusing” featuring Lorde on June 21.
The remix addresses the rumored tension between the two singers before they decided to “work it out on the remix.”
Charli XCX shared a screenshot of a text message from Lorde with the lyrics to her verse in an Instagram post on June 21.
On Aug. 1, Charli XCX released a remix of “Guess” featuring another high-profile singer: Billie Eilish. Eilish’s verse and the accompanying music video teased the singer’s romantic interest in Charli XCX.
Even as “brat summer” turns into “brat autumn,” Charli XCX is still reworking her iconic album.
Her full-length remix album, “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat,” debuted on Oct. 11.
At a listening party on Oct. 10, the singer told fans that the goal of the remix album was to demonstrate “the infinite possibilities of dance music and music in general.”
“i’ve always had a bit of an issue with songs coming out and being cemented as one thing for eternity,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Oct. 11. “i think songs are endless and have the possibility to be continuously broken down, reworked, changed, morphed, mutilated into something completely unrecognizable.”
What does “Kamala is brat” mean?
Beyond outfit checks and viral dances, the brat summer trend transcended TikTok fame to become associated with an unlikely figure: Vice President Kamala Harris.
Shortly after President Biden announced he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential election, Charli XCX expressed her support for Vice President Kamala Harris by complimenting her in an X post:
The post made the rounds on social media and spurred a multitude of posts that paired videos of Vice President Harris with songs from “brat.”
Many of those videos also incorporate the “coconut tree” meme inspired by a quote from one of Harris’ past speeches.
Harris’ campaign team has also embraced the brat memes.
The Kamala HQ campaign account on X changed their banner to mimic the “brat” album cover art, with “kamala hq” written in low-res text on a lime green background.
On Instagram, the Kamala HQ account made a post inspired by the brat aesthetic, including a screenshot of Charli XCX’s original X post in the slideshow.
“And when we put this to bed the internet will go crazy,” the post’s caption reads.
The rapidly growing “brat” discourse even moved from social media to mainstream political discussion.
Rachel Maddow addressed the brat memes in a July 22 interview with Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar on MSNBC.
“Last night, Charli XCX tweeted ‘Kamala is brat,’” Maddow said. “To be totally honest with you, I’m not totally sure what that means.”
Is ‘Brat Summer’ over?
Despite brat summer’s popularity, several news sites published articles speculating that the trend was waning.
Charli XCX seemingly responded to the narrative in an Instagram post on July 25 featuring several of the headlines.
“oh ? see u next week :)” she captioned the post.
The singer reflected on the album’s success in a Sept. 2 Instagram slideshow featuring some of the most popular “brat” trends and viral moments.
“goodbye forever brat summer,” she captioned the post, to the dismay of her fans in the comment section.
Still, Charli XCX shows no signs of slowing down, between her “Sweat” tour sets and many, many “Brat” remixes.
It may be time to say goodbye to “brat summer,” but luckily for fans, “brat autumn” is just getting started.
