Charli XCX's Stylistic Coming-Of-Age Is A Statement Of Power
Charli XCX's Stylistic Coming-Of-Age Is A Statement Of Power
By Sara Radin
The world needs Charli XCX’s futuristic pop, yet we also need her futuristic style. Debuting her latest album in September 2019, a self-titled LP called Charli, the singer has been sporting new-age feminine looks on her world tour to coincide with her electro-disco bops. Think bodycon corsets, shimmery metallics, saturated pinks, and sheer layers — it’s experimental, it’s cohesive, it’s next level Charli.
In the early 2010s, Charli donned punky outfits (teased hair, ripped black tights, and plaid skirts), aligning with an alt-pop sound (cue “Break The Rules” from her 2014 album Sucker) that separated her from artists like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, whose own beauty radiated bright, bubblegum sweetness. Right considering that, Charli wasn't a record-label darling. She got her begin on MySpace, playing warehouse raves at age 14 with a DIY fashion that blended contemporary pop hooks with nostalgic ’90s references. “I think it was at those shows that I picked up my efficiency style,” Charli told Rolling Stone in 2012. “Everyone at those shows was out of their mind on ketamine and tossing glitter around, so being only 14, I felt like I really had to prove myself."
Getty ImagesFlash forward to Charli, which finds the singer shedding her punk persona in favor of something more subtly subversive. With three studio albums and four mixtapes under her belt, the 27-year-old musician isn't leaving the glitter in back of, however she has modified her fashion to match her matured sound. Charli’s stylist, Mindy Le Brock, has been instrumental in her aesthetic shift. Le Brock first worked with Charli on her 2015 “Famous” music video, yet it wasn’t up until 2019 that they began a consistent working relationship, starting with the singer’s “2099” video. Le Brock was then tapped to collaborate with Charli on her looks ahead of her international tour.
“[Charli] has such a wonderful sound and excellent collaborators, so it was really nice to bring a whole new fresh look to her stage presence,” Le Brock tells MTV News of Charli’s new “slick” and “contemporary” look. Contrasting the rebellious fashion she embraced earlier in her career, Charli’s current vibe draws inspiration from “sci-fi” and “anime,” Le Brock adds, which reflects the newfound confidence heard in her music.
While most artists wear the same outfits every night of their tour, Le Brock characterizes Charli’s new look as intentionally much less costumey and regimented. Charli wanted her wardrobe to be interchangeable and functional, so she may mix and match pieces according to her mood while sustaining the ability to jump and move around on stage. “She wanted to do a lot of changes for this tour, yet we certainly didn't want it to be tearaway costumes,” says Le Brock. The stylist compiled around 50 easy-to-layer, easy-to-strip pieces in complementary black and bright hues for the tour, some of which Le Brock designed herself. The team also incorporated pieces from such emerging designers as Marine Serre and Martine Ali.
Charli’s stylistic coming-of-age is marked by a hard-femme dichotomy. She’s paired ruched, sheer black tops with fire-print pants; leather harnesses and billowy sleeves; sports bras with puffer coats elaborate with tulle and delicate embroidery. This bold sartorial direction underscores a deeper level of confidence and individuality that feels authentically Charli.
For fans and collaborators alike, that’s one of the greatest things about Charli at this point in her career: She really is aware herself. “She's quite clear about the way she wants to move on stage and the way she wants her body presented on stage,” Le Brock says. The stylist explains that, for Charli, feeling good before a group has meant recognizing the significance of little specifics, how they can bolster her efficiency — as an example, the singer likes the way big sleeves look on her body once she swerves across a dance floor. Exaggerating her movements, her arms become wings.
Le Brock chose pieces that resemble the musician's "larger than life" stage presence. At the same time, she wanted to capture the nuances of Charli's personality, the dumb and the sexy. "She doesn't take herself also seriously and is routinely having fun,” Le Brock mentioned. “One show she even had her tampon string hanging out.” Pink hair and brightly colored clothing help tap into her playful side, while form-fitting cuts let Charli to “celebrate her body.”
You’ll never guess what Charli will wear next, however you could habitually expect the singer to exude a laid-back approachability, as if she copped her look from the nearest thrift shop. Throughout a recent efficiency in Milan, she wore an orange wrap top with massive sleeves, floral print biker shorts, thick-framed sunglasses, and clunky sneakers, slicking her hair back inside a long ponytail with hair clips; for a show in Berlin, she paired a black Nike sports bra with embroidered assless chaps, a high pony, and then some black sneakers. Nevertheless it’s Charli’s cool-girl attitude that’s her greatest accessory, something that comes with defining one’s identity on your own terms. This resonates with her latest album, an assignment that, in Charli's words, delved into her "feelings about anxiety, isolation, and being an artist." She told MTV News, "The cool part about writing it basically daily back to back was that my mood would switch constantly. I'd write different songs a day that helped shape it." Charli takes a similar approach to fashion.
Getty Images
Getty ImagesDressing according to how she feels is new and empowering for the artist. “Once she sees the venue or [realizes] the mood that she's feeling for the night, then she chooses two or three looks that are interchangeable,” Le Brock says, admitting she can visualize slight variations in Charli’s vibe from efficiency to efficiency. “I certainly can tell that the moods are changing because she'll wear one kind of thing one night and then it'll be a really different mood the next night.” Alternatively opposed to feeling pressure to wear the same prescriptive costumes, dressing this way gives Charli the freedom to express herself authentically.
Like her contemporaries who push back against restrictive aesthetics standards — think Lizzo's body positivity and Rosalía's unibrow — Charli isn't shy about showing off her body. As a substitute, she champions it as an expression of female power and autonomy, through corsets and harnesses and bold prints, and doing so her way.
Style, just as music, is a language that informs how we understand several artists’ unique perspectives. Accordingly, Charli is distinguishing herself from her punk roots by giving fans a fresh facade that still feels characteristically offbeat. And, with Mindy Le Brock’s help, the little quirks that dictate the Charli revolution get a lot of consideration.
Leave a Comment
Have something to discuss? You can use the form below, to leave your thoughts or opinion regarding Charli XCX's Stylistic Coming-Of-Age Is A Statement Of Power.
Style News