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Tag: Charli XCX Skims

  • Chappell Roan’s “Unwitting” Charli XCX Shade

    Chappell Roan’s “Unwitting” Charli XCX Shade

    Move over, Billie Eilish, there’s a new environmentally-conscious Gen Z pop star in the mix, and it’s none other than Chappell Roan. Despite her classification as a “geriatric Gen Zer” (born near the very beginning of the generation’s “hatching” in 1998), there’s no denying Roan as being, these days, perhaps even more influential on her age group than “zygote” Gen Z pop stars like Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. The latter two, although often vocal about various “do-gooding” endeavors (for Rodrigo, it’s less about the environment than her Fund 4 Good, which aims to “support community based non-profits and girls’ education, support reproductive rights and prevent gender-based violence”), have never been quite as upfront and vehement as Roan is in the October issue of Rolling Stone for which she serves as the cover star (complete with the title, “A Star Is Born”—the Lady Gaga allusion being rather over-the-top, but hey, no one ever said that subtlety sells).

    Among other quotable chestnuts found in the article, Roan announces, “All the money [I make] goes to the world-building [oy, that phrase]. That’s why I am saying no to every fucking brand deal right now, because I’m like ‘Does it fit in this world?’ No, H&M does not fit in this world. Also, fuck H&M.” While Roan could have simply stopped at “every fucking brand deal,” she opted to call out H&M in particular. A pointed choice considering Charli XCX’s highly-publicized, fresh collaboration with the fast-fashion juggernaut. A collab that has many declaring that Brat summer is effortlessly poised to become Brat autumn (with a remix edition of the album coming out in October to further emphasize the seamless transition). And why not? When there’s still so much more money to be made off of this particular “femininomenon” for Charli? Indeed, like Chappell, she’s been frequently mentioned as one of the three most celebrated pop stars of the year—and all of whom have been slogging at it for roughly a decade only to finally be met with insane, Taylor Swift-level obsession in 2024 (though one wonders if any fans can truly be as obsessed [and willing to spend as much money to prove it] as a Swiftie). Charli, of course, has actually been in the spotlight since at least 2012, when Icona Pop’s “I Love It” (which Charli wrote, but didn’t feel was right for herself as a “solo” effort). Well over ten years. It’s just that, as with everything, Gen Z isn’t aware of shit prior to their own “era” until and unless it becomes a trend.

    Which, one supposes is why it’s good that Roan is trying to use her own “trending” nature to make a big, politically and environmentally-conscious statement while she can. Apart from already insisting that fame can be repurposed from toxic to tolerable, Roan is focusing in on a cause that’s supposedly near and dear to Gen Z, despite their greater addiction to fast fashion than any previous generation. Particularly with ultra-cheap online outlets like AliExpress, Temu, Shein and Romwe (and, quelle surprise, Shein owns Romwe, hence the very similar prices and products) “tempting” them with their shitty but attainable wares. Compared to those entities, H&M seems almost “saintly” (though its latest offense is continuing to operate its many store locations in Israel amid the ongoing Palestinian genocide).  

    Thus, Roan’s open vitriol toward a fast fashion player that is hardly all that influential to Gen Z compared to the abovementioned ilk comes across more like shade. Which is also odd when considering that, per Roan’s gushing account, Charli XCX was the first of the “pop girls” to reach out to her after she went on that previously mentioned tirade about fame and posted it to TikTok. It was during a soundcheck in Dublin that she stated, “I love Charli so much. She was like the first girl to reach out and check on me. She was like ‘Hi, this is about to get really hard and if you need a friend, I’ll be here for you’. So it’s just so sick to see her just ruling the fucking world and doing it her way.” But if being a spokesperson for H&M—even allowing the company to adopt her signature Brat green backdrop for its logo—is “doing it her way,” maybe Roan isn’t entirely convinced of XCX’s artistic genius.

    Then again, perhaps Roan really doesn’t have that much room to talk/get on a soapbox. For, even though she might make a big production about being seen with her own reusable water bottle at an awards ceremony or bringing her own carpet to the red carpet for that same awards ceremony (the VMAs), she’s also the same “artist” willing to allow her hit, “Hot To Go!,” to appear in a Target commercial for the “Cuddle Collab.” (Perhaps she thought that because the commercial centered on dogs and cats, it could eke by the proverbial “watchdogs” [no pun intended] of environmental causes.) And it probably will, for there is little that Roan can do wrong at the moment, whereas Charli has already started to lose cachet for being “too corporate,” what with the H&M collab and Kamala Harris’ campaign using Brat for its own “marketing” purposes, ergo a much older, wider range of demographics becoming aware of her.

    And while Roan might not have been cognizant that Charli was doing the campaign when she made those anti-H&M comments for the Rolling Stone feature, it seems as though her comments underlyingly constitute more Gen Z knife-digging aimed into the backs of millennials like Charli, who was at least spared from Roan name-checking Skims, too (otherwise known as: XCX’s other sellout collab of the moment). That would have been really pointed. But also, a necessary pushback against the inexplicable reign of Kim Kardashian as some kind of “high-minded businesswoman.”

    In any case, it’s not as though Eilish is much for really backing up her sentiments either, what with participating in XCX’s underwear-laden “Guess” video. Because, regardless of insisting that all those mountains upon mountains of “unused” panties would be donated to an organization that supports survivors of domestic violence, the “fast fashion-chic” look of the video’s key backdrop is enough to bury that message—literally. Meanwhile, Roan wants to resurrect it in a manner, “unwittingly” or not, that puts a glaring spotlight on how “anti-Gen Z” in sentiment XCX ultimately is despite her newfound resonance with the generation that supposedly finds most millennials to be inherently cringe. And not just for their environmental practices (that actually aren’t worse than what Gen Z does with its own China-based fast fashion obsession).

    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Charli XCX Doing A Skims Ad Campaign Is More Crash Than Brat

    Charli XCX Doing A Skims Ad Campaign Is More Crash Than Brat

    During one of her many interviews about Brat, Charli XCX mentioned being committed to whatever “character”/“persona” she’s trying on for her album of the moment. (Though it bears mentioning that no one could ever be as committed as Marina and the Diamonds playing Electra Heart for the album of the same name back in 2012.) Admitting that, to her, this aspect of it is more interesting that the music itself. But it seems that, in capitulating to becoming a “Skims model” (a term that somehow feels and sounds derisive probably because it inherently is), she’s having a bit of whiplash in terms of recalling just who, exactly, she’s supposed to be embodying for the (brat) summer of 2024, instead reverting more freely to her Crash persona from 2022. The one that “took every advertising deal” (including, most glaringly, the one with Samsung) without the slightest bit of shame or hesitation because, hey, this was her “sellout” era. Whoring herself out for [insert company name here] and gleefully taking the money in return was, accordingly, completely “on-brand.”

    Kim Kardashian, needless to say, has been in the “whoring herself out” era ever since the days of sticking her head up Paris Hilton’s asshole and keeping it in there until she could come out with a slightly more famous face than before. Funnily enough, Kardashian herself does exemplify a brat in the more conventional sense of the word (along with the children she’s “raising”). That is, minus the part where she’s not a little girl anymore—though it’s no secret that most millennial women, particularly those in the limelight, still can’t help but act that way (see also: Paris Hilton and Lana Del Rey). And yes, what was brattier than Kim screaming, “My diamond earring!” after losing a stud reportedly worth seventy-five thousand dollars while swimming in Bora Bora circa 2011? Her melodramatic delivery and traditional brat reaction was, thus, the polar opposite of being “very demure, very mindful.”

    As is XCX choosing to pose for Skims’ cotton “underthings.” Regardless of trying to make it more “Brat coded” by having Petra Collins do the photoshoot and “tongue-in-cheekly” captioning it “#ad” (in keeping with the dry, straightforward labeling of things in the Brat world). A caption that essentially “Brat-ifies” Crash behavior. In any case, maybe some part of Kardashian (aside from the part that jumps on every bandwagon to capitalize as much as possible for both more money and clout) tapped XCX for the campaign because she saw a “kindred” in the literal meaning of “brat” as opposed to XCX’s modern twist on the concept, which essentially means being messy (e.g., wearing the same makeup for days at a time), not trying too hard and being, in effect, too cool to care.

    Thus, posing for a Skims ad, however “no frills,” feels very much the opposite of Brat. As though XCX can’t help but return, ever so slightly, to the girl she was on Crash. The unapologetic sellout that could collect the cash without judgment because that’s simply the name of the game when you’re an Ultra-Famous Pop Star. Such an unapologetic sellout could also effortlessly get into bed with Kim Kardashian and her odious Skims brand without thinking twice about it. In point of fact, Crash’s last song (on the standard edition) is called “Twice,” a track featuring the lyrics, “Don’t, don’t, don’t think twice/Don’t think about it.” Although she might have been referring to the end of the world/mortality (it was sort of like her more upbeat version of Billie Eilish’s “Everybody Dies”), in this instance, it can easily apply to the idea of not thinking twice about becoming one of Kardashian’s growing list of shills. Much to Taylor Swift’s increasing dismay, as she seems to be losing all the “cool” girls to the former Mrs. West and her flesh-toned shapewear. Even her own “good friend,” Lana Del Rey, who also blithely donned the coquette look in time for Skims’ Valentine’s Day 2024 ad campaign. Resultantly, there were rumors of a fallout between Swift and Del Rey after the latter showed up to the Met Gala with a cinched-waist-to-the-max Kardashian.

    As for Charli XCX, despite knowing she “couldn’t even be her if she tried” (a lyric from Brat’s “Sympathy is a knife,” which features some heavy allusions to Swift), the Crash album was her biggest attempt at being “that pop star bitch.” You know, the kind with Swiftian-level juggernaut powers. While, at the same time, also being her biggest troll of the music industry. The entire concept, after all, was centered on the “Faustian pact” nature of becoming a star (Maxxxine also comes to mind on that front). And, if anyone knows all about such Faustian pacts, it’s surely Kim Kardashian. So perhaps this “deal with the devil” connection also played a role in XCX’s “attraction” to the “girl with no talent.”

    Or maybe XCX simply wanted to look “hot in it” (to quote one of her songs), donning a see-through white cotton bra that miraculously shows no sign of any nipples (let alone hard ones) and matching white cotton boxers while flashing what has become her signature “dead-eyed” look. Though one has to wonder if that expression is “ironic” anymore, so much as a sign that she played the part of Crash corporate sellout for so long that it’s now bled into the Brat era. XCX even had the audacity to declare, “SKIMS empowers people to feel confident in their own skin, which is the essence of Brat. I am excited to be working with a brand that understands that comfort and style don’t need to be compromised.” Aside from Charli sounding like a marketing robot/recently converted cult member, it has to be said that what obviously does need to be compromised, at this juncture, in order to be “brat” is artistic integrity.

    After Crash came out, XCX declared, “I needed to switch after Crash—I wasn’t born to do radio liners. That’s not who I am at all.” But if Brat is (or was) meant to be something of its polar opposite/a return to her “fringe club days,” an ad with Skims certainly doesn’t align with that narrative. But, then again, perhaps the corporate-ification of Brat (complete with Kamala Harris joining in on the meme trend for her presidential campaign) is causing a rightfully schizophrenic reaction on Charli’s part.

    Genna Rivieccio

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