In the last couple years, the public was introduced to a new kind of pop star.
First to come out was Marina and the Diamonds who rose to prominence with her debut album and its single, "Obsessions". She became more popular with her second album, Electra Heart. It was a concept album about female identity and a heartbreak. It leaded by the popularity of its lead single, “Primadonna”. She has recently released her third album, Froot. Around this time, Elizabeth Woolridge Grant aka Lana Del Rey also rose to prominence. She released her second studio album Born to Die. It was met with mixed reception, but became a commercial success and she had her own face of controversy with the media. She then released an extended play album that met critical success. She is now on tour for her new album, Ultraviolence and set to release a new album in the fall. The newest pop star out of these three would be Charli XCX. You probably know her from hits such as Icona Pop, “I Love It”. But she did not become popular until last year when her song, “Boom Clap”, made part of The Fault In Our Stars soundtrack. She has released her third album, Sucker.
These artists are at the height of their popularity, thus huge style influencers among young women today.
Marina and the Diamonds
Marina and the Diamonds is all about electric and retro which reminisce of the crazy 80’s. She loves neon in her color palette. She has described her style as being vintage, cartoon, cheerleader and cited Gwen Stefani (who is known for lack of fear of color in her clothes and Sophia Loren who is known for her classic choices) as two of her fashion inspirations. Marina shows the same lack of fear. She uses different types of colors with her clothes that might not necessarily work for anyone, but it fits her perfectly. While Marina is known for her crazy style, she has worn clothes that reflect in the era of the 1950’s as Sophia Loren.
How influential is she on demographic:
Her color palette of neon is the color trend for this season. It also fits into the seasons of Spring and Summer. During Fashion Week, a lot of designers used a lighter color palette with such colors as baby blue, pink, and yellow. The color trend for the summer is neon. Marina and the Diamonds has shown to not only wear these colors but she has incorporated these colors together.
Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey, a self-proclaimed “Gangster Nancy Sinatra”. She has her own style which reminds us of past decades. Think Mad Men. Her hair is always done in a vintage style: beehives, long 40s-esque waves, or middle-parted 70s straight style. Whether she wears her demure, classy 60’s-inspired dresses, 70’s style sweaters and skinny jeans or her authentic 80s bad girl looks she pulls it off perfectly. Her color palette is more on a soft side due to her many different inspirations. She wears white, light blue, and yellow. But she is not a stranger to brighter colors as well. such as turquoise, fuchsia, and purple.
How influential is she on demographic:
Lana Del Rey is no stranger to wearing trends from the past and vintage style has been a trend in recent years. In fact, the trend for this summer is 1970’s style. Lana is the one who made this style cool again and expendable for a younger demographic.
Charli XCX
Charli XCX has a unique style that differs from the other artists on this list. She uses influences from the 1990’s , from the Spice Girls to Wednesday Addams. Her style has a unique blend of grunge and early hip-hop. She would describe her own style as “grunge princess with a magical cyber angel twist.” Her fashion icon is Fairuza Balk in the movie, The Craft. She also finds inspiration from fashion photographers such as David La Chapelle and Pierre et Gilles. Fashion actually inspires her music. Her color palette varies from bright to dark colors. Her style can be summarized by this imagery: if a Spice girl (Sporty Spice or Baby Spice) wondered into the Addams Family’s mansion, and raided Wednesday’s clothes.
How influential is she on demographic:
Charli XCX is the closest in age with her demographic, so naturally she knows how to dress like them. In the last couple years, 1990’s nostalgia has become popular. In her music videos, she wears a lot trends that were popular during this era such as crop sweaters, and velvet skirts. For these reasons, she made these items popular again.
Text by Suzanna Lee
