In an effort to retain their fan base, modern-day celebrities are doing everything in their power to distance themselves from content creators and the inauthenticity they often exude. This distancing became particularly clear through the 2023 Coachella fashion, where the influencers came to play, and the celebrities officially forfeited the competition with nothing but a white tank top. The win was not so sweet.
The 2018 rebrand of ByteDance’s Musical.ly into TikTok brought about a surge of the modern-day “influencer.” Nearly 86% of young Americans expressed a willingness to engage in influencing on their personal social media platforms according to a 2019 Morning Consult report.
The allure of influencer fame skyrocketed with platforms such as TikTok, creating an environment where anyone could gain recognition and be heard. A simple hashtag connects you to the public eye—to influence. Despite its increasing popularity, the term “influencer” conjures images of pretension, artifice, wastefulness, and vanity.
Content creators such as beauty TikToker @mikaylanogueira have been caught under fire multiple times for their supposed inauthenticity. Just last year, Nogueira became the poster child of out-of-touch influencers when a video of hers went viral and featured her saying,
“I literally just finished working, it’s 5:19. Try being an influencer for a day because the people who say it’s easy are so far out of their minds.”
It’s become clear that “influencer” has become synonymous with “insincere.”
When An Indie Music Concert Becomes The “Influencer Olympics”
This multi-weekend extravaganza now prioritizes a good Instagram pic in front of the famous Ferris wheel over anything music-related.
Widespread interest in the Indio music festival became apparent around the early 2010s, as Vanessa Hudgens was unofficially crowned the “Queen of Coachella.” The High School Musical star posted online year after year, documenting her bohemian desert fashion, telling E! News, “It’s just such a fun place to dress however you want.”
The actress even faced backlash in 2020 when the festival was canceled amidst the breakout of COVID-19, taking to Instagram Live to say, “People are going to die, which is terrible, but like… inevitable.”
Despite such loyalty, Hudgens was not present at this year’s festival. Instead, thousands of content creators from all over the globe flocked to the boiling desert with suitcases full of meticulously curated outfits in preparation for the three-day event. They attended exclusive parties and hashtagged #ad as originally scheduled.
“This is not a music festival. This is a work convention.”
TikTok creator @whoashell explains the reality of the festival, describing influencer outfits as “bullet points on a resume.” Influencers seize the opportunity presented by Coachella to get a truckload of content, not only treating it like a work event but rather the work event. They spend upwards of thousands of dollars on stylists and custom couture in pursuit of increased online engagement and the ability to solidify themselves as a contender in the realm of influence.
Top TikToker Alix Earle’s Coachella videos gathered over 100 million views within weekend one alone. Only one of the 25-plus videos featured a musical set in the background.
Fellow TikToker Loren Gray revealed in April that most influencers don’t even go to Coachella. She explains that “they don’t have wristbands. They just drive their little butts out to the desert to take Instagram photos, make TikToks, get ready with me’s, whatever. Then they drive back, and that’s it.”
As the everyday person begins to catch on, begins to catch a glimpse behind the filtered curtain, celebrities have taken themselves out of the competition.
Celebrities such as Vanessa Hudgens set the standard for festival fashion—writing the rules of the game, only to abandon it the second it gained widespread popularity as if it’s now beneath them to continue playing along. She told Entertainment Tonight, “I love going to festivals to disappear, and I can’t really do that at Coachella anymore.”
Is watching your friend perform in front of 125,000 people worth the mob? The bar is raised higher after the front-runners have already crossed it.
For influencers, Coachella is their Met Gala. For celebrities, it’s just another Sunday
It’s become increasingly important for celebrities to cement their status as the elite— they’ve always had access to Coachella. This is merely something they’re attending, not the thing. Kylie Jenner told GQ in 2018 that she only attended the festival to support her then-boyfriend Travis Scott on his world tour.
Celebrities make a conscious effort to appear effortless, accentuating the inauthenticity and artificiality associated with the influencer lifestyle. A photo dump behind the 2023 Coachella mainstage will undoubtedly garner more support than a photoshoot amongst the crowd. They’re with the band. This calculated PR move to strategically dress down deliberately shows that they are celebrities and not influencers.
Camila Morrone and Suki Waterhouse set the tone for festival fashion with their Emmy-nominated series Daisy Jones & The Six, which premiered just a month before the April festival. Despite the anticipation, the pair donned an all-denim look, leaving the influencers to cosplay.
coachella (suki and camila's version) pic.twitter.com/td33S0TMWy
— robin ? in memoriam and the buccaneers era (@rileyauras) April 16, 2023
Supermodel Kendall Jenner sported a black tank top and black jeans for her 818 tequila party. British Vogue called Kendell Jenner’s “anti-Coachella” look a “lesson in festival dressing,” explaining modern-day Coachella looks as hackneyed and over the top. The 20-time Vogue cover model apparently showed that “sometimes the coolest thing to do is to wear a T-shirt and go nowhere near anything glittery.”
For the remainder of the weekend, Jenner flew under the radar and was only spotted with her younger sister Kylie, who sported a similar jeans and tank top ensemble, and her friend Hailey Bieber, who unsurprisingly also wore jeans and a tank top. In the era of the “cool girl,” is trying at all trying too hard?
What’s more authentic than a tank top and jeans?
At first glance, Jenner’s look is accessible— something the majority of people have folded in the back of their dresser drawer. However, this “authenticity” is a facade. Both pieces worn by Kendall Jenner are by the Australian brand St Agni and, of course, available for pre-order now. The modern follower too can sport the pieces detailing “unexpected raw edges and cut-out at the waist” Vogue speaks so highly of for just over $400.
Jenner’s “anti-Coachella” look markets the 818 brand as real and raw, unlike the phony and meticulously crafted events of other brands at the very same festival.
This seemingly nonchalant and understated appearance is calculated as celebrities carefully manipulate their public image to come across as relatable and approachable while still maintaining a sense of superiority over the influencers flooding the dust around them.
This separation is also emphasized the week after when celebrities go all out for the Met Gala, proving that they can and will dress up when it’s in the realm of exclusivity.
Celebrities distance themselves from mainstream influencer culture as a way of asserting their authenticity. They doctor “representation” and expect their fans to be none the wiser, double-tapping to like.
When celebrities wear the same casual outfit, it’s down to earth, but when TikTok user @aquiredstyle documents every influencer in the same Revolve lace skirt weekend, one with the viral sound bite “she looks like every other bitch,” it’s desperate.
The influencer to celebrity pipeline
For many influencers, celebrity status is the Goal, but very rarely are they able to make the jump.
Celebrities don’t have to make content— they are the content. Some of the most notable celebrities are left without an Instagram handle.
One of the very few influencers to have edged herself to such status is Emma Chamberlain, whose coffee brand “Chamberlain Coffee” was featured at the 2023 festival— cementing her role as a top figure. After phasing out her YouTube content and becoming much more elusive, her day two look successfully was compared to what a TikTok user “wore last weekend to take [her] dog on a walk.”
Celebrities brought festival fashion to the stage only to distance themselves from its inevitable popularity years later. The accessible has become too accessible, and in a world of “no makeup-makeup looks,” it won’t do. Perhaps accessibility can never be found at the Indio Music Festival, and these influencers are playing a losing game.
Bella
December 14, 2023 at 1:11 am
So interesting and so true!!! especially the part about Emma Chamberlain!!!!!!!
Jordan
December 14, 2023 at 1:36 am
This is why I can’t stand Coachella. As the author perfectly said, it is not even about the music anymore, just “influencers” playing dress up.