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Brat green has become the dominant color trend worldwide in 2024. The bright lime green shade trumps millennial pink and leaves Gen-Z yellow miles behind. This summer, it has become the protagonist of all industry marketing in China and around the world.
It all comes from English pop star Charli XCX’s brat album, which was released on June 7. Social media videos from the star’s fan base coined the term “Brat Summer,” a special green wall in the New York borough of Brooklyn set everything in motion, and soon brat became the hottest album of the year even before its release.
With songs that relate to the whole yearParty girl lifestyle, brat has become the official antidote to the trendy “clean girl aesthetic.” It’s all about being casually unkempt yet chic, living life to the fullest, and, most importantly, wearing some kind of lime green to honor Charli XCX.
The distinctive shade has somehow surpassed the singer herself. To illustrate the extent: Instagram has over 2.6 million posts with reference to the hashtag #bratsummer, among millions of other untagged posts jumping on the lime green wave. On China’s Gen Z-dominated platform Xiaohongshu, #brat has been read 18.3 million times.
From the luxury retailer Harrods a Longchamp bag with the inscription “#brat green” to Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, Marketing its controversial expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone with a brat For reference, the lime hue is dictating the marketing tactics for summer 2024. By joining this movement, brands can take an effective shortcut and connect with Generation Z by showing an accessible playfulness while supporting LGBTQ culture (Charli XCX is an established icon in the queer community).
This possibility has also spread to China. “Brat Green” has become such a phenomenon on the mainland that Shanghai’s Jiangwan Stadium The subway station on line 10 has become a social media hotspot due to its lime-colored columns.
On Xiaohongshu and Douyin, users are posting beauty looks featuring the shade, including bold eye shadows, bright hairstyles, and fluorescent nail art. Its widespread adoption represents a significant fashion and beauty trend among internet-savvy consumers that brands can leverage to demonstrate cultural savvy and relevance with a wink.
Given that the bubblegum-like tone of Millennial Pink lasted almost a decade — starting with Acne’s shopping bags in 2007, gaining momentum in 2015 with Drake’s Hotline Blingand will then flood the catwalks in 2017 – this trend is also definitely predicted to have a long lifespan.
The official Brat Summer of 2024 may be less than a month away, but the eye-catching lime green hue is expected to long outlast it. It’s time for brands to play around with their marketing campaigns and seize the opportunity to celebrate with Gen Z.
The Jing Take covers the most important news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the most important impacts on the luxury industry. In the regular column, we analyze everything from product discontinuations and mergers to heated debates emerging on Chinese social media.
