Lime green is all the rage, 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 iconic Arial font) has been seemingly everywhere, from slimy green merchandise to marketing campaigns.
The energetic dance-pop album tackles partying, Von Dutch and femininity, to name a few themes, and has inspired dances, memes and fashion trends on TikTok, leading many online fans to coin a new term: “brat summer.”
With its messy, carefree vibe, Brat Summer borrows elements from other similar TikTok trends like wild girl summer And rat girl summer.
Having evolved from a now-iconic album cover to an aesthetic in its own right, the “brat” is now a lifestyle embraced by Gen Z and millennials.
Here’s everything you need to know about the summer of brats, from viral dances to unexpected collaborations.
What is Brat Summer?
The summer brat 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 minimalist cover art: “brat” written in low-resolution font on a lime green background.
Shortly after the album’s release, Gen Z dubbed it gamine season, an aesthetic trend defined by party-goer antics, cool-girl style, and all things lime green.
The trend quickly took over TikTok, with 41.2k posts under the hashtag #bratsummer.
While the word “kid” usually conjures up feelings of middle school angst, kid summer is about embracing your imperfections while embracing chaos.
In an Instagram job On June 8, Charli XCX described the album’s ethos as “me, my flaws, my failures, my ego, all rolled into one.”
She then explained the meaning of “kid” in a TikTok video.
“You’re just like this girl who’s a little messy and likes to party and sometimes says stupid things. Who feels good but also maybe has a nervous breakdown. But still parties, who’s very honest, very direct. A little volatile. She does stupid things. But she’s a kid. You’re a kid. She’s a kid,” she said in the video.
Summer Trends for Brats
“Brat green” has quickly become the color of the season, a far cry from last summer’s ubiquitous Barbie pink.
For some New Yorkers, brat green is a must: Charli XCX kicked off the release of her “brat” album with a live performance in front of a giant green wall in Williamsburg.
The brat wall has since been 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 displaying its final message, “ok, bye!” on July 2.
Beyond the official album merchandise — including, naturally, a lime green crop top emblazoned with the word “brat” in giant, low-resolution letters — the brat ethic has also infiltrated summer fashion.
Charli XCX described the brat fashion aesthetic in a interview with “The News Movement” on June 10.
“It can be really trashy,” she said. “It’s like a pack of fags and a Bic lighter. And a white strappy top with no bra. That’s pretty much all you need.”
The brat aesthetic is a far cry from the clean girl trend that dominated viral fashion in 2022. It celebrates sweaty party girl chaos: smudged eyeliner, grunge street style, and plenty of Y2K inspiration.
Brat, TikTok and the viral “Apple” dance
One of the most viral trends on TikTok is an energetic 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 fans.
Seeing her dance go viral has been “incredible and sometimes overwhelming,” she tells TODAY.com.
Although “Apple” was one of the album’s biggest hits, the popular track almost didn’t make the cut for “brat,” according to Charli XCX.
“A secret little apple almost didn’t make the final tracklist… imagine lol. It’s her world and we live in it anyway!!,” Charli XCX wrote on Instagram job July 16.
Charli XCX herself has posted several TikTok videos of herself performing Heyer’s “Apple” dance.
Heyer was “amazed” to see her idol perform her choreography.
“It makes me so happy,” Heyer says. “It’s so cool to see how everyone has taken my dancing to a much higher level.”
For Heyer, “being a bratty girl is everything.” The bratty girl ethic, as she describes it, involves elements of celebration, authenticity and community.
“Brat is party, brat is fun, brat is messy, brat is sexy. Brat is whatever,” she says.
Remixes and Deluxe versions of “Brat”
Charli XCX kept the brat summer momentum going with several “brat” remixes and re-releases.
Just three days after the release of “brat” on June 7, Charli XCX released a deluxe version of the album titled “brat and it’s the same thing but there’s three more songs so it’s not.”
The deluxe album included three new tracks, “Hello goodbye”, “Guess” and “Spring breakers”.
Charli XCX released a surprise remix of “Girl, So Confusing” featuring Lorde on June 21.
The remix addresses the tension that allegedly existed between the two singers before they decided to “work things 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 August 1, Charli XCX released a remix of “Guess” featuring another renowned singer: Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish’s verse and accompanying music video hinted at the singer’s romantic interest in Charli XCX.
What does “Kamala is a kid” mean?
Beyond plaid outfits and viral dances, the summer brat trend has transcended TikTok fame to be associated with an unlikely figure: Vice President Kamala Harris.
Shortly after President Biden announced he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, Charli XCX expressed her support for Vice President Kamala Harris by complimenting her in an X-rated post:
The post, which currently has nearly 48 million views, has made the rounds on social media and prompted a flurry of posts pairing videos of Vice President Harris with “brat” songs.
Many of these videos also incorporate the “coconut tree” meme inspired by a quote from one of Harris’ past speeches.
Harris’ campaign team also embraced memes of badly behaved children.
Kamala’s seat campaign account on X They modified their banner to mimic the “Brat” album cover, with “Kamala HQ” written in low-resolution text on a lime green background.
On Instagram, the Kamala HQ account posted a brat-inspired post, including a screenshot of Charli XCX’s original X-rated post in the slideshow.
“And when we end this, the internet will go crazy,” the post’s caption reads.
The rapidly growing discourse about “bad kids” has even moved from social media to mainstream political debate.
Rachel Maddow addressed kid memes in a July 22 post interview with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar on MSNBC.
“Last night, Charli XCX tweeted, ‘Kamala is a kid,’” Maddow said. “To be completely honest with you, I’m not entirely sure what that means.”
Is the summer of the girls over?
Despite the popularity of “brat summer,” several news sites have published articles speculating that the trend is on the decline.
Charli XCX seemingly responded to the story in an Instagram post on July 25 featuring several of the tracks.
“Oh? see you next week :)” she captioned the post.
Luckily for brat fans, Charli XCX shows no signs of slowing down.
In September, the singer will headline the North American Sweat Tour, with Troye Sivan. The tour will feature songs from Brat and Sivan’s album Something to Give Each Other.
According to her Instagram posts, Charli XCX has been keeping busy in the meantime, performing DJ sets in Ibiza and rehearsing choreography for her “Sweat” tour.
“Kids’ summer has only just begun :),” the singer wrote on X.