I'll admit it: I'm obsessed with Charli XCX. She asks her fans to do just that in “Von Dutch,” the lead single from her upcoming sixth album. brat, imploring, “It's okay to admit you're obsessed with me.” I don't think we can be blamed – the album's release has taken the internet by storm. Charli is firing on all cylinders with instantly headline-grabbing, dancefloor-rocking singles like “360” and “Club Classics,” along with excellent remixes, music videos, and a much-talked-about Boiler Room set. Everything is perfectly timed to build hype around the album's release, and to boot, his style has never been better. She's always served up looks, but since stylist Chris Horan joined her team in 2021, she's been Next Level Charli (pun intended).
Horan is a celebrity stylist based in Los Angeles known for his dramatic looks seen on Hari Nef, Barbie Ferreira, Shania Twain, Christina Aguilera and many more. He, along with creative director Imogene Strauss and photographer Terrence O'Connor, is part of Charli's team helping to drive her from ideation to execution. The clothes in the initial launch images photographed by Harley Weir immediately set the mood for the album: a white baby Saint Laurent T-shirt, a simple tan sweater, a chiffon knit, decadent leather jackets . There is a marked lack of color, pattern and texture, letting your personality do the talking. It's deceptively simple, subtly sexy and unashamedly high fashion. Even his street style is designer from head to toe and exudes the most badass energy, in the best possible way.
Charli can elevate a simple look because, as Horan says, “I don't know how else to say it, but she is the pretty girl and that's what sells a lot. It's not necessarily anything groundbreaking, but it's in the Charli XCX way. As she says on “360,” “Without style, I can't relate / I'll always be the one.” The song's music video is a fashion highlight reel, featuring 14 different It Girls including Julia Fox, Gabbriette, Chloë Sevigny and Rachel Sennott wearing Courrèges, Marni, Vaquera, Saint Laurent, KNWLS… the list goes on. NYLON caught up with Horan to talk about that “overwhelming” two-day session, plus what the Style Bible entails for Charli's upcoming tours, including Sweat with Troye Sivan.
What were some of the first briefs for the creative direction of brat?
[Charli] he played me the first song in November 2022 but it really started when he played us the demo of “Von Dutch” when he did Coachella [in 2023]. It was immediately locked in the environment. We were all like, “Oh my God, this has to be the first single,” because it was so different Crash. Then we all started talking about it being rave culture. what does it look like I think everything should be a little screwed up, never perfect. Charli knew early on that she wanted the cover to be no images, just text. We were all up in arms at first, but it was the coolest thing. I already had the color and everything down. Selfishly, we wanted to take pictures because we want a hot shot, which we still gave each other; single decks have them.
There were different words than Imogene or Terry [photographer Terrence O’Connor] would bring to the table. For example, when we were thinking about what the space would be like environmentally, it was a lot of concrete and brutalist things. [Charli] I had these concepts already built in my head and we ran with it. We went to Charli's house a few times and each of us brought a hundred printed references and started grouping them together. It was fun because there's less stakes when it's not like, “We're doing an album cover in three weeks.” It was more of a freestyle and feeling the tone and what makes sense. We created a master deck of all our favorite references and then started saying, “This is the Bible.”
Also, one of the most amazing parts of working with Charli is that I'm never afraid to say anything, no matter how crazy the idea. A lot of times in my career with projects, even if it's a really amazing relationship, I don't necessarily feel the comfort. this [comfort] generates the best results. All of us on the team felt that we could be afraid of each other. I think it's the healthiest creative environment.
This year, she's wearing a lot of Marni. How has it been working with your team?
First of all, they got him to see Coachella last year. They basically said, “Tell us what you need or what the ideas are, we're willing to work with you and make it what you want.” They sent this beautiful deck of proposals with all these crazy references. It was the most thoughtful approach any brand had sent us. Working with them throughout this process was so easy and enjoyable, so I thought we should work with them more. I believe Francisco [Risso]'s collections keep getting stronger and stronger and stronger. I think it was an easy choice for us to lean in a little more. I also think that Marni as a brand also reflects the ethos of Charli XCX, in a sense. It has some quality. Marni is an atypical species of fashion houses, and I think she is very representative of Charli and I think it matched.
It's common for people like us, but maybe my mom doesn't know what Marni is. Charli sits there too.
Yes, that's exactly it. I've actually never come to that conclusion until now, but it makes a lot of sense.
It encapsulates her style now and where she's going. She also wears a lot of Saint Laurent, which was a nice surprise, especially in the “Von Dutch” video.
Saint Laurent and Marni are my two personal favorites. The thing about Saint Laurent is, and this was a discussion that Charli and I had, it's the next chapter of her saying, “I'm an adult and I want to dress like an adult.” Obviously an adult whore, the adult Charli XCX. She said, “I'm 31, I need to step up my game,” which got me really excited. I basically redid her personal wardrobe. We've tweaked and made different variations with these new pieces. A lot of that was The Row and Saint Laurent. Charli said it unlocked shopping in her mind, and now she buys the Phoebe Philo drops every time…but she goes back to Saint Laurent. We really love leather. It's also a bit sexy, but simple. We wanted things to be very different, but not necessarily so strong in terms of color or pattern. It was the simplicity that still felt very strong and whore.
She's a whore but also I laugh. That Saint Laurent jumpsuit she wore in the “360” video was so important and felt like a grown-up version of her. Tell me about how you shot this video.
I can finally talk about it, I haven't told anyone this! The video was shot over two days, the day after the Oscars and the day after because that's when many of the guest cameos were in town. I remember his manager saying to me and me like “You're kidding me” because I have other customers and this is a a lot busy week We did every person in this video, at least all the famous girls we did, except Emma [Chamberlain]. It was pretty crazy. We had an entire closet trailer, like they do for movies. There were floor-to-ceiling double-layer racks. It was crazy. We must have had 18 racks full of stuff.
What was the energy like on set? I mean, you said she was crying, so I'm sure it was a little chaotic.
I didn't cry because of everything that was going on, this project was really amazing. I would cry because I was overwhelmed. My plan of attack was to go on her Instagram and pick three of my favorite photos and try to make them feel that way. Charli also had this to say: “I want everyone to feel like they're getting everything they want.” We looked at their personal style and tried to go above and beyond for them to feel hot and badass, and not like they're playing a watered-down version of themselves. We had a very thoughtful selection for each of them, it wasn't like everyone was wearing the same thing.
The energy was incredible. And those girls on set, they were just hanging out. Terry had so many amazing TikToks. The atmosphere was very good and everyone was excited. I think even on set, they could tell how good it would be. And obviously, Chloë Sevigny is a huge, massive win. This is a bucket list moment for me as a stylist. I'm so happy I got to work with her.
This is every stylist's dream. To me, she has the same mindset as Charli in some ways. She really gets it, and everything she wears is instantly elevated because of her. It doesn't matter what it is, and it never feels bad, even if it's ugly. It's intentional.
exactly Don't second guess them because they won't wear something that doesn't look like them. I can't put Charli on something and say, “just trust me.” That just doesn't happen. Those girls don't go out on things they don't sell. They feel it, they are projecting it, they are killing it.
“I think why all these contemporaries want the essence of Charli is that she's one of a kind. It's a lot about her attitude and the way she is.”
Charli will be doing a small series of shows this summer, and then you'll be wearing Sweat. How has this process been and what can we expect?
For the tour, we still don't have a Bible that says what we're doing. But I think Primavera is a good example, and it is [BBC] Radio A weekend. I think people can expect to see a lot more fluid elements, that softer vibe will continue. I want to distribute fashion and give the brands that have been so loyal to us their moment. He likes a lot of movement pieces, so I'm trying to marry all the favorites from some of the recent stuff we've done. I love sparkle and shine on stage, and that's the only thing I'm working on. How do we do it in a fashionable and expensive way? When you're on stage, it looks great when things look really fancy. Whether it's shiny black or expensive-looking crystal, as long as it doesn't look cheesy. I want to find a way to add dimension to it.
