We’ll see just how far Harris’s campaign runs with brat summer, but if they’re savvy, they’ll be judicious.
Brats are having a moment. No, not the early 2000s era dolls with oversized lips and eyes (those were Bratz, with a Z) — and not the German sausage. We’re not even talking about petulant children. We’re talking about a social media trend — nay, a movement — that’s all about being confident, loud, and maybe a little bit rough around the edges. It’s unified by a particular shade of green that’s been snaking around the internet and even into Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. Confused? Don’t worry. We’re here to explain what “brat summer” is, why young people want to have one, and why Vice President Harris has found herself at the center of the trend.
What is brat?
First things first, BRAT is the name of the latest album from pop singer Charli XCX (of “Boom Clap” and “Fancy” fame, to name a few). The music is, to use scientific terms, a bop, and we’ll get to its commercial success later — but even before the synth waves hit people’s eardrums, BRAT was making waves from its design alone.
When the album came out on June 7, its eye-grabbing green album cover design and ridiculously simple artwork attracted a ton of attention. While other artists do elaborate photoshoots for their album covers, Charli XCX just put a sans-serif font in the middle of a chartreuse-colored square and let it be.
The album cover, with its comically on-the-nose design and winking take on music promotion, spawned meme after meme. Charli XCX herself even leaned into the meme-ability and launched a “brat generator” so that brands and laypeople alike could make their own versions.
(The album isn’t just known because of the memes — it’s also achieved commercial success: BRAT debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and sold 82,000 units in the U.S. the week of its launch, making it the biggest debut of the singer’s career.)
What is brat summer?
Who better to explain the concept of a brat summer than the woman who started it all? Charli XCX explained in a TikTok that a brat is “just that girl who is a little messy and maybe says dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but then also maybe has a breakdown but parties through it. It is honest, blunt, and a little bit volatile. That’s Brat.”
She further elaborated that “Brat Summer” can be either “trashy” or fancy and that its starter pack might include “a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra.” But above all, it’s an attitude. (Things that probably aren’t brat? Doing your taxes, leaving a party at 9 p.m., the phrase “gee willikers.”)
Why is brat summer?
Ever since 2019, when Megan Thee Stallion released her song “Hot Girl Summer,” young women have been claiming their summer. From “Barbie Summer” to “BRAT summer,” these seasons are generally about the same things: being confident, dressing how you like and not to please the male gaze, having a fling, and generally living by your own rules. “Brat summer” is the latest iteration of this trend. These moments are also coinciding with a larger trend of what I’m calling a monikerification of personal style — that is, the rise of social media fashion trends like Coastal Grandma Chic, Tomato Girl Summer, and Mob Wife Aesthetic — where the internet gets a kick out of naming things and ascribing a certain look and/or feel to them.
In a time when women’s rights and freedom of movement are being restricted, and conservative lawmakers want to clamp down on gender expression, it can be fun to participate in a social media trend that positively emphasizes bold femininity and, unlike Tomato Girl Summer, isn’t expressly rooted in consumerism. But how does all of that relate to politics, anyway?
What does brat summer have to do with Kamala Harris?
The day Joe Biden officially announced he’d be dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Harris, Charli XCX tweeted, “Kamala IS Brat.”
From there, her campaign ran with the meme: The social media account for her rapid response team, @KamalaHQ, changed its banner on X to match the brat branding.
Given the inherent memeability of BRAT, its commercial success, and Kamala Harris’s existing appeal toward young voters, is it any surprise that TikTok and Instagram have completely run with the “Kamala is Brat” trend? Then, add in the fact that a May 2023 clip of Vice President Harris saying, “You didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree,” has gone viral again amid her candidacy, and you’ve got a recipe for an internet sensation.
We’ll see just how far Harris’s campaign runs with brat summer, but if they’re savvy, they’ll be judicious. After all, nothing ruins a trend faster than brands and politicians overusing it until the point where it stops being fun. And having fun? It’s very brat.
