Did Week One of Coachella Disappoint?
Coachella, the celebrity and influencer packed, desert rave fever dream of a music festival, is filled with highs and lows. It seems that on the whole, however, the first weekend of the festival left both attendees and vicarious viewers with a stinging sense of disappointment.
Photo: Jason Merritt via Rolling Stone
Frank Ocean, performing for the first time in six years, was an hour late to his show and only performed for half an hour, ending his set abruptly because it had gone over curfew. The Blonde singer never even came out, instead performing from behind a screen. In fact, the festival went over curfew every night and has been fined $117,000.
On top of all of that, Coachella is perhaps most famous for its hippie inspired fashion. It is a weekend where attendees step away from their real life and style and dive into over the top, bohemian looks without judgment. It’s all about freedom, man. But not this year; celebrities like Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Bad Bunny, Emma Chamberlain, and Suki Waterhouse shed their daisy dukes, fringe tops and glitter for a much simpler, ‘normcore’ look.
photo: @haileybieber on Instagram
The prevailing color scheme was white, black, and light blue denim. Hailey Bieber wore blue jeans and a white ribbed tank, accessorizing with a simple body chain. Bad Bunny’s look was almost identical, while Kendall Jenner opted for an all black outfit.
So why have all of these A list celebrities shied away from the looks that they were so famous for a decade ago? Of course, minimalism is probably the biggest trend in fashion right now. Terms like ‘quiet luxury’ and ‘stealth wealth’ are all over the internet, and are all different ways of describing exorbitantly expensive clothing that doesn’t make its cost obvious. These explanations are easy, straightforward.
photo: @badbunnypr on Instagram
Of course, Coachella has always had a way of existing outside of the trend cycle, at least to some extent. It is its own phenomenon; there are fashion trends, and then there is Coachella fashion. The best explanation for the ‘boring’ looks this year is simply that the A list celebrities that we look to each Coachella have grown up and become business owners. Kendall and Kylie Jenner are no longer the teenagers that they were in 2018, blue haired, oblivious to the world and all its consequences. Now they are adults. Kylie Jenner is a mother and a businesswoman. Hailey Bieber, too, has a brand to promote, and therein lies the answer to the simplicity of Coachella 2023; capitalism breeds unoriginality, not creativity.
Photo: AKM-GSI via E News
That said, by no means did all of the looks at Coachella fall along these trends. Smaller creators and influencers who are working hard to make a name for themselves and be trendsetters were far more creative with their fashion choices. And while A list celebrities are inescapable in the headlines, there are some platforms, like TikTok, on which influencers actually get far more attention.
Mega influencer Madeleine White outdid herself each day of Coachella, starting off with a whimsical two piece that made her look like she was being swathed in butterfly wings, following it up with a gold and emerald chainmail halter top minidress, and finishing off with a cropped cargo miniskirt and tank top of belts. Woah.
Photo: @madeleinecwhite on Instagram
At the end of the day, this Coachella is a little bit all over the place. But hey, it’s a music festival in the desert; how could it not be? If what you are looking for is that crazy Coachella fashion next weekend, take to TikTok and Instagram and you will be rewarded.