Concert Tours Are Driving Summer Fashion Trends

Echoing many of the key trends from our 2023 Festival Fashion forecast (including shimmering metallics, psychedelic colour and diamante-laden Western details), each of these musicians have a signature visual language fans are flocking to recreate.

After the opening night of Beyoncé’s tour, searches on e-tailer Nasty Gal for “metallic cowboy boots”, “silver cowboy hat” and “silver corset” – mimicking pieces worn by the artist on stage – jumped 488%, 525% and 669%, respectively.

The embellished Western theme continues at Swift’s shows, where the popularity of cowboy boots teamed with sparkling party dresses – both on stage and in the stands – represent her journey from country singer to popstar.

At Styles’s shows, attendees lean even further into optimistic maximalism. Fans don feather boas in an ode to his revered red carpet looks (Party City retailers in New York sold out of boas during his Madison Square Garden concerts). Equally important are naïvely playful yet softly psychedelic motifs that reference his music – think cartoon fruits and florals worked in bold-coloured brights.

Crafty fans are taking matters into their own hands, putting a creative spin on these artists’ iconic looks or bringing beloved lyrics to life through DIY projects.

Inspired by Swift’s lyric “glass shattered on the white cloth”, one Eras Tour attendee crocheted a white dress and attached shards of plastic to it to resemble broken glass. Another fan DIY-ed a “wine-stained dress”, referencing Swift’s song Clean. This preference for personalisation not only ensures a unique, bespoke outfit (which helps with going viral), but also singles the wearer out as a dedicated in-the-know fan.

Similarly to how TV shows continue to have a major impact on youth-driven fashion trends, popular musicians and their performance looks (including concert, music video and album art styling) are important for brands to watch. Nasty Gal and Asos have curated sections on their sites that aim to make finding a concert-appropriate outfit easy, as does rental platform Bipty, but there are other avenues to pursue.

Sustainability is one aspect – consider eco-friendly alternatives to sequins and feather boas, or explore the potential in dedicated resale and rental platforms for attendees. Fan creativity is another – worth engaging, where possible, via DIY tutorials (think JW Anderson’s knit pattern) or a deadstock donation.

It’s vital brands recognise the vast opportunity in, and the influence of, tentpole pop culture and media events beyond branded merchandise. Think of concerts in terms of Halloween, where instead of asking: “What are you dressing up as?”, attendees are wondering which Beyoncé lyric, Taylor Swift ‘era’ or Harry Styles photoshoot to recreate. This goes beyond music events: expect to see expressive dress-up at screenings of Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated Barbie movie this summer.