To a certain sect of fairly online and fairly young folks, February 2024's biggest moment wasn't Valentine's Day. It wasn't Lunar New Year. It definitely wasn't Fashion Week.
Nope, they were all in on Charli XCX's Boiler Room set, held in New York on February 23.
If that sounds like hyperbole, you aren't plugged in to a certain side of Twitter, which was utterly dominated by buzz before, during, and after the event. Some people even flew into NYC just to see Charli perform.
That's all well and good (and probably quite sweaty) but the real happening went down hours before Charli stepped behind the decks.
We were all, knowingly or not, sitting front-row at Charli XCX Fashion Week. TAke a look, y'all.
Over the span of only a few days, Charli hit the city streets in an impressively distinct series of zeitgeisty outfits. These looks are Youth Culture, epitomized.
Even Charli's first look was an instant post-Y2K classic: washed-out leather jacket (trimmed with fur, natch), Acne Studios scarf, Diesel-y denim skirtpants, and heels. Easy, breezy, beautiful.
Next, a very optimistic springtime look — temps have been hovering around 30° in New York — with sporty sunglasses, snugly stretched-out sweater, miniskirt, and tall leather boots.
And, finally, a zippered cargo cardigan, adjustable buttoned jeans, and her best accessory: an iced coffee.
The reason I list out the garments that you can see yourself in photos is to illustrate that no two looks were alike, the only overlap being some sunglasses and a handbag.
Yet the stylistic throughline of retro-cool, semi-Y2K-tinged flavor remained intact.
It ain't as easy as it sounds to consistently nail three separate marks but, as we all already knew, Charli's got taste (and possibly a canny stylist).
The magic is partially in how effortlessly Charli wears each look — you can give someone clothes but you can't automatically make them look good — but also in their consistency.
Like, it really is a feat to channel a stylistic theme without reiterating the same pieces or proportions.
Each of Charli's outfit looks approachable, no crazy OTT statements here, so they work individually. As a whole, her looks actually do kinda approach the appearance an actual runway show, in that they hit a central theme from different angles, tapping trend without parlaying entirely into it.
That's a pretty tall order, even setting aside the must-see Boiler Room set. But just another week for Charli XCX.
Here's to the next Charli Fashion Week.
