Coachella 2022: Has There Been a Cultural Vibe Shift?

April 25, 2022

After a two-year hiatus prompted by the pandemic, Coachella made its triumphant return in Indio, California. This year, the festival had a significant role to fulfill: it needed to quench the thirst of music lovers who yearned for live music again.

It goes without saying that the lineup, with headliners such as Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, and The Weeknd with Swedish House Mafia, was phenomenal. Artists treated us to tons of new music, like Phoebe Bridger’s “Sidelines” and Doja Cat’s “Vegas” for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. We got surprise guests that were nothing less than iconic: Styles brought out Shania Twain for an unforgettable duet of “Man! I Feel Like A Woman,” while Daniel Caeser was joined by Justin Bieber to sing their hit single “Peaches.”

For online observers of Coachella, the more notable elements aren’t related to the music at all but to the celebrities and influencers in attendance. Coachella is arguably a central point of not only music but popular culture and fashion, and it determines trends for the year. Celebrities are integral in this, with many putting copious amounts of effort into ensuring their looks circulate in the media. Remember Kylie Jenner circa 2016 with her rainbow braids and sequined evil-eye set? Perhaps you think of Vanessa Hudgens and her iconic, modern-bohemian looks. But this year, the vibe was… different. It was as if there was an unspoken rule this year about how to approach the festival: 

Don’t try too hard. 

Celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner arrived at the festival in jeans, a white crop, and a leather jacket. Even Emma Chamberlain, dubbed the ‘Most Popular Girl in the World by Cosmopolitan, wore sweatpants, a white tank, and white Vans to the festival’s last day. A-listers who typically stand out among the “best dressed” in the pre-pandemic era seemingly put little to no creativity into their looks this year. It was as if the most embarrassing thing in the world would be to “overdo it.”

As a result, other celebrities and influencers took the brunt of “not understanding the assignment.” James Charles, a 23-year-old beauty influencer, was criticized for “trying too hard” in his Gregory Ojakpe knitted set and custom-made LA ROXX catsuit. Despite being praised in previous years for pushing the boundaries at Coachella, this year, he stood out “too much” against the relaxed approach of other influencers alike.

With the lack of social events during the pandemic years, you’d think celebrities would want to return to the festival scene with extravagance. But as the less-glamorized version of our lives became normalized, there’s a sense of fatigue around performativity. This led to the antithesis of what Instagram was pre-pandemic: “Casual Instagram.”

Photo dumps” are a key element of this trend, where Instagram users post raw, unedited photos of candid, unrelated moments in life. Emma Chamberlain (15.3M followers)—arguably the queen of the anti-aesthetic movement—posts unfiltered photos of her half-eaten food and selfies of her crying. Doja Cat (23.4M followers), SZA (11.9M followers), and Bella Hadid (51.5M followers) have also hopped on the trend.

Coachella felt as though it turned Casual Instagram into something tangible.

There’s an irony in this “casualness,” though. We want to appear indifferent to social media or fashion trends, but by doing so, we surrender to them. Everything we post is still curated to convey a particular identity, and for most people, that desired identity is “cool” and “carefree,”

Sartorial choices, especially in the celebrity landscape, will always be influenced by the broader culture. Did Kendall Jenner really just throw on a pair of Levi’s and walk out the door for Coachella? Or did she work with a stylist for hours to ensure she matched this laid-back essence? The frightening thing about trying to appear “nonchalant” is that it merges authenticity and artificiality, making it hard to decipher what is real.

@KylieJenner before Coachella, 2016
Image from Teen Vogue