Seasons of Influence: Brat Summer’s Legacy and the Cultural Fire of 2025
By Abbey Hayden
Arts and Culture Editor ABBEY HAYDEN reflects on the legacy of Brat Summer, and on how the season has become a stage for culture, politics, and identity.
The ‘Brat Summer’ of 2024 revolutionised the cultural script of the warmer months. More than just an online trend, it became the blueprint for redefining what our summers could look like. Ignited by the release of Charli XCX’s namesake album, as well as the monumental marketing campaign that followed in its wake, the movement spilled beyond music into fashion, nightlife, and the collective attitude of a generation. ‘Brat’ was crowned Collins Dictionary Word of the Year for 2024, and its dedicated Wikipedia page defines the spirit of ‘Brat Summer’ as a “confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude”. Charli XCX envisioned Brat Summer as “like, a pack of cigs, and, like, a Bic lighter, and, like, a strappy white top. With no bra.” With her words, the movement became about messy self-acceptance, and falling in love with a summer that felt as raw and intoxicatingly imperfect as the young generation that was at its core.
But Brat Summer came to reflect more than the hyperpop and strappy tops that were central to its recognised aesthetic. A Bic lighter may have symbolised rebellion, but it was the album’s political undercurrent that struck a chord with young people seeking recognition. The defining moment came when Charli XCX tweeted “kamala IS brat” following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and his endorsement of Kamala Harris. The music artist acknowledged that it felt “hugely important” to be “on the right side of democracy, the right side of women’s rights” as her informal endorsement aligned Harris with the complex, outspoken, and powerful generation of women that understood what it was to be ‘Brat’.
All of a sudden, the summer was defined by more than just an album release. It became a cultural, and thus intrinsically political, campaign. A younger generation that had once been defined by declining mental health rates, and spiking levels of anxiety after a lockdown that sought to contain them, were redefining themselves through Brat Summer. They were told they could be messy, unfiltered, confident, immoderate. They had voice amidst a polarised Presidential race, and they could find collective experience in, as Elle magazine dubbed, Charli’s “feminist punk commentary”. In creating the brand of her album, Charli XCX rebranded what summer itself could be: a season that can become a cultural identity.
If Brat Summer 2024 was about lighting the spark, then the summer of 2025 was about showing how far the fire can spread. No longer tethered to one album or artist, this year’s summer has been shaped by a multitude of cultural influences and global events.
Across the world, the season delivered a feast of global culture, with an indulgent mix of exhibitions in art, fashion, music, and sport. Venice drew A-list crowds from the worlds of art and cinema with the Venice Biennale and Venice Film Festival, while New York appealed to sports enthusiasts with the arrival of the Sail Grand Prix and the US Open. London upheld its annual legacy, once again transforming the lawns of SW19 into the stage hosting the Wimbledon Championships, and awarding Jannik Sinner his first Wimbledon title. Beyond tennis tournaments, the UK also became the heart of the summer’s music scene: Glastonbury hosted iconic headliners, Coldplay took over Wembley with an August residency, and the Gallagher brothers reunited for an Oasis tour of Britpop nostalgia. From standing ovations at Festival de Cannes to fresh debuts at Paris Haute Couture Week, the endless cultural parades proved that summer remains the world’s most dazzling stage for culture in all its forms.
Yet, as Brat Summer proved the year before, culture is never only about the party. Beneath the spectacle, each performance, exhibition, and runway carried a quiet political charge - a reminder that art is where generations negotiate who they are and what they stand for. At the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Kaouther Ben Hania’s film The Voice of Hind Rajab received the festival’s longest recorded standing ovation. The film recounts the story of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza City in January 2024; a poignant portrayal of Palestinian suffering and the human cost of war, set in stark contrast to the glamour of the festival’s red carpet. Meanwhile in London, political solidarity intertwined with music as Chris Martin beamed into the mic, telling audiences he was “so happy to see a Palestinian flag” in the crowds at Coldplay.
Likewise at Glastonbury, the stage was set not only for the world’s current leading music artists, but for political messages as well. Janelle Monae’s set called for the impeachment of US President Donald Trump, Kate Nash urged a “dismantling of systems of oppression” affecting women and trans people, and Jade Thirlwall led chants denouncing transphobia. At Paris Fashion Week, Willy Chavarria’s show involved 35 models kneeling on the red carpet, paying tribute to the immigrants and citizens who have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) across the US in recent months. Chavarria declared his show was about “claiming identity [...] in a time of erasure [...] in a time with the most horrifying atrocities happening all around us”. Indeed, this is the work of fashion, art, and music alike - to claim identity, to resist erasure, and to give voice to generations navigating an unsettled world.
Summer 2025 showed that the legacy of Brat Summer was never just about an album, or even a season. It was about recognising the power of culture to define identity, spark solidarity, and channel resistance. From festival fields to fashion runways, from standing ovations in Venice to stadium anthems in London, art became the stage where politics and pleasure collided. Brat Summer may have opened the curtain, but this year became an abundant performance, expanding the scale of what culture can do when it commands the stage. Summer 2025 was more than entertainment; it was proof that culture remains the loudest way a generation makes itself heard.
Image Credit: Luca Martin
