The floor of Madison Square Garden swirled like a washing machine filled with black mesh tanks, ripped denim, an occasional jockstrap waistband, and, as you’d expect, thousands of electric lime-colored t-shirts. The Brats, angels, and 365 party girls had come out for Charli XCX and her Sweat tour co-conspirators Troye Sivan and Shygirl’s triumphant one-night stand in Manhattan. It may have technically been the first day of fall, but the night felt like the culmination of the entirety of the Brat summer meme cycle.
As you’ve probably seen on social media by now, Lorde and an understandably giddy Addison Rae made a surprise appearance. Kelley Heyer, the actress who originated the inescapable TikTok choreography for “Apple,” was on hand to demonstrate it live. Stephanie Nagy, the record store owner and one of Charli’s most vocal boosters on TikTok, was in the building. So too was “360” music video star Chloë Sevigny. Vice President Kamala Harris may not have been able to make it out, but her stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, did.
Of course, even if you were sitting next to the Pope, it would have been hard to take your eyes off the stage. Charli didn’t just deliver a standout performance, often commanding attention on the barren stage without the help of backup dancers of elaborate pyrotechnics; she also made sure to remix her Brat wardrobe with some special nods to New York City.
Luar has risen in recent years to one of New York’s hottest homegrown labels (staging a blockbuster show at Rockefeller Plaza attended by Madonna), and Charli opted for a little black dress (or at least designer Raul Lopez’s twisted take on it) that echoed a style just seen on the runway.
The late Lou Reed was simply one of the all-time New Yorkers, and XCX has been dropping hints that his work may inspire her next record through out her recent interviews. It’s little surprise then that she wore a shirt bearing his image on the front page of The New York Post from Artifact New York. She also wore the shirt during sound check alongside Lorde and Rae.
The label Dauan Jacari blew into our consciousness when Sevigny wore their take on the classic “I ❤️ NY” tee during Fashion Week, and apparently it stuck in Charli and her stylist Chris Horan’s minds too.
Brat is a worldwide phenomenon, and as the entire arena sang along with Lorde last night, XCX was once a “young girl from Essex.” So of course she decided to bring one of London’s hottest labels stateside, with a corseted look from Dilara Findikoglu.
She also brought a taste of Paris with her, reviving this very-sheer number from Saint Laurent from earlier in the tour. She wore it here to perform with Rae and Lorde.
We’re sure Charli and her fashion team still have some tricks up their sleeve for the remainder of the tour, but it’s doubtful if any other stop on the itinerary will get quite this level of style localization. It is, as Charli pointed out in her Instagram caption, “the biggest fucking apple of them all.”
