What is Brat Summer? Explaining the Charli XCX Inspired Trend
Lime green is having a moment, and you can thank Charli XCX’s hit new album, “Brat,” for that.
Since the studio album's release on June 7, the “brat” aesthetic (including its signature Arial font) is seemingly everywhere, from slime green merch to marketing campaigns.
The high-energy dance pop album touches on partying, Von Dutch and womanhood, to name a few themes, and has inspired memes, TikTok dances and fashion trends, leading very online fans to coin a new term: “brat summer.”
With its messy, carefree vibe, brat summer borrows elements from other similar TikTok trends like feral girl summer and rat girl 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.
The brat summer trend is inspired by British singer Charli XCX's hit album “brat” which was released on June 7 and debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts.
Fans were particularly taken by the album's distinctive yet minimalistic cover art: “brat” written in low-res Arial front 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.
The trend quickly took over TikTok, with 41.2K 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.
Beyond outfit checks and viral dances, the brat summer trend has recently 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, which currently has nearly 48 million views, 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 has 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.”
Sophie Caldwell
Associate Lifestyle Reporter
