WHO WILL SUCCEED BRAT AS LEADER OF THE SUMMER 2025?

words EMMANUELLE PLANTIER
editor MAREK BARTEK

The Met Gala? Check. Coachella? Check. After all these highly anticipated events have already had their moments at least  until next year, the next thing that is on everybody’s lips and that you won’t need an exclusive invite to, is the summer season.

image Instagram @charli_xcx

With the return of outdoor festivals, Cruise collections and long days sunbathing at the beach or enjoying the office’s AC, depending on where you stand, we all want to feel this special liveliness that electrifies the whole season. So, get your sunglasses and your best sunscreen and look with us for this summer’s next craze. 

Online, it is a race to who will predict the future trend of summer 2025, the one that will storm our screens and our minds, as if this “je-ne-sais-quoi” that comes with warmer temperatures needs to be channeled into a massive cultural movement. Think about 2019 hot girl summer, 2024 brat summer and dare we include 2016 Pokémon Go summer as seasons where a certain cultural object brought everyone online and IRL together under the same banner. Each of these trends brought their own set of references, music, series and a unique feeling of communion to three special months that will be remembered as times of innocence and plenitude. After the shockwave that a certain neon green album unleashed last year, it seems that people never want this feeling to end and try to revive the ecstasy that dominated brat summer. But what could top the phenomenon that Charli XCX created and that some Internet users don’t seem to want to let go?

image Instagram @lorde @charli_xcx

On Instagram, the reactions diverge. Some tried to answer this question by going around at Charli XCX’s Barclays Center’s concert and asking attendees what their prediction was for the future theme of summer 2025. The crowd only saw two options for what will animate our late, warm summer nights, like a Cartesian dualism of online culture. While some are praising the immortality of brat summer, others see the upcoming album of Lorde “Virgin” as reigning over the charts and the vibes of this festival season. The interviewer’s opinion is that brat summer is over, and like an undesirable ex partner, it should stay in the past and not be made contact with anymore. Trends come and go, and trying to bring brat summer to life would’ve only replicated a pale copy of what we’d cherished so much and would’ve tarnished the memories we have of that time. So let’s turn to something new!

But what would a Lorde summer look like exactly? Lorde is known for her soft, poetic texts and deeply emotional melodies, far from the energy and lightness of the brat album. Yet, maybe Lorde’s vulnerability and angst is what people are looking for. In 2025, some feel more connected to the melancholy conveyed in her music than to Charli’s carelessness and naturally cool aura. The global events that shifted the world these last few months are enough to bring out the feelings of insecurity and dread, and Lorde’s album comes at the right time to soothe it all out. People seem to find Lorde’s inherent gloomy vibe desirable and in, saying that a Lorde summer would bring “a party energy but more like I’m sad over my boyfriend” or that we would be “sad but we’re partying”. 

image Instagram @lorde

Although fun and seemingly innocent, this whole race to the trends is leaving some kind of sour aftertaste. It seems that nowadays every aspect of our existence, down to the natural cycles of the planet, is threatened to become a commodified good, taking a new depth and significance when you put a price tag or a hashtag on it. Every trend ends up becoming a marker of “coolness” that comes with the appropriate product or piece of clothing, sustaining a fast-paced and polluting industry. Moreover, we risk losing the “specialness” of unexpected moments of bliss like the brat summer, where elements randomly align to create a special energy in the air.

So, whether your summer is going to be Lorde, brat or hot girl coded, what truly matters is to stay true to your values and enjoy the warmth of the sun without worrying too much about what category you want to fit in.