It’s the time of year again when the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, becomes the talk of online blogs and news forums alike. For the past few years, the festival has become more than just a music festival. Welcome to the new season on the fashion calendar, festival season!
Coachella has become a “fashion moment”, an event where a person can dress up to the nines, and “see and be seen”. Although music performers were the central feature of the festival, it wasn’t the only entertainment available. With celebrities and attendees letting loose in the Californian desert and a plethora of fashion shows, private pool parties and free concerts in full swing, the Coachella festival is proving itself to be one of the most action packed and blogged events of the year.
But seriously, is it worth all the excitement? Our answer: Yes! Coachella is probably the only musical festival where you might get the chance to see Rihanna smoke on stage, while riding the shoulders of a security guard or Jared Leto in Zebra-print skinny jeans. In the dusty desert setting nonetheless! Coachella isn’t just an event to catch some live music, it’s an event where beautiful people can forget the regular constraints of society and embrace their inner bohemian and free spiritedness.
This weekend was a whirlwind of commercial potential and Coachella-goers did not disappoint when it came to festival-style. Although Coachella’s just begun, weekend one attendees made it clear through candid selfies and snap-shots that it was “goodbye flower crowns and hello to ‘street-style'”. Yes, we can officially say the flower-crown, chokers, gladiator sandals and neon crop tops that dominated festival-style and retail stores, are no longer in fashion. For this year’s Coachella, look forward to wearing bralette and crochet lace tops, swimsuits as body suits, wide brimmed hats, bandanas, long floral printed skirts and dresses paired with branded sneakers.
If anything, weekend one of Coachella 2017 has given “festival fashion” an intense make over and brought the concept back down to Earth. Back in the early 2000s, grunge was at its peak. Now street-style’s back, invoking a new sense of forward thinking, out-of-the-box clothing combinations that you wouldn’t have thought to wear in everyday life. For both the fashion conscious woman and man, the street-style and boho aesthetic is like that of a uniform; cutoff denim shorts and statement accessories are mandatory! The aesthetic has become so aligned with Coachella, commercial and luxury fashion retailers are using the term “Coachella” in product descriptions as well as participating in the music festival itself.
For example, popular e-commerce site, Asos includes a collection of boho-fringed inspired garments and eye-popping accessories. Swedish company H&M, a Coachella sponsor for five years, launches its own “Coachella collection”, marketed to both festival attendees and non-attendees alike. This season, you will find an astounding range of floral printed dresses, chiffon skirts, heart shaped sunglasses, lace tops, denim shorts and many more. On Etsy, a “Coachella’ search will surface more than twenty-four thousand results and turn into an online festival-wear guidebook for halter tops, jangly ankle bracelets and colourful bandanas.
For five years, luxury and lifestyle brands like Lacoste and Khiel (also sponsors for Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival), have flocked the festival. In the midst of the Californian desert, fashion brands have hosted numerous pool parties, fashion shows, stylish lunches and drinking nights. Unlike previous years, much of these events were separated from the music side of the festival. This year is different.
“Luxury and commercial fashion brands alike are going bigger and bolder each year at the festival, spending more and more aggressively and staging grander and ever more Instagrammable events” – The Atlantic
There is an unmistakable trend at this year’s Coachella. Attendees clad in their best, are now opting out of the musical event that brought them to California in the first place. Referred as ‘No-Chellas’, these young, spirited people hit the invite-only pool party, fashion shows or free concert and becoming the image, fashion houses are eager to sell. It’s not just the Coachella concert the fashion brands are after. Time is money and commercial success! The time between shows and when musicians are in town is just as important. In 2015, Dior collaborated with the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art to screen the documentary “Dior and 1”, complete with a red carpet premiere. Burberry on the other hand, transformed the Griffith Observatory for its maiden “London in Los Angeles” runway show and after-party.
Even our favourite celebrities got in on the street-style action.
Singer, Rihanna killed it with her one of a kind Gucci outfit. Her glittery bodysuit paired with the Gucci graphic shirt and denim shorts may have left divided opinions but who else is fearless enough to pull of a Gucci morph suit?
Sometimes sweet and simple is all you need. Ashley Tisdale makes the classic grunge, look effortlessly chic and dead easy. Choose your favourite pair of denim shorts and crop-top. Combine it with a baggy leather jacket for those cool evenings and top it off with your favourite ankle boots and your statement ray-bands.
Katy Perry and Jeremy Scott go all out this year. There isn’t such thing as wearing too much colour. The singer opted for wearing the colours of the rainbow as well as don neon-green framed sunglasses. We love it!
As Coachella grows in size each year, so too does the scope, the excitement, and the international appeal. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has proven it’s far more than just a music event. It’s not a hub for festival-style. It begins there.