CNN
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As the second weekend of Coachella nears, there is a sense that fashion at the annual music and arts festival is different from that of recent editions.
The shift is perhaps epitomized by Vanessa Hudgens — once dubbed the “Queen of Coachella” — whose boho-chic aesthetic, long synonymous with the festival held in hot Indio, California, made way for the kind of pared-back, anodyne approach now adopted by many of today’s attendees.
This may be partly due to a desire to blend in: Swaths of celebrities, including Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, as well as Justin and Hailey Bieber, mingled in the crowd with regular festival guests. But there were also several A-listers who brought the heat to the desert and delivered head-turning looks, both on and off the stage.
Lady Gaga, for one, wore a custom feathery look by provocative fashion label Fecal Matter and sported bird claws for hands, as she closed her high-octane performance. Also in animal-inspired form was Blackpink’s Lisa: In a far cry from her “The White Lotus” character’s uniform, she wore a custom reptile suit by designer Asher Levine for her first solo Coachella performance.
Elsewhere, fellow Blackpink member turned solo act Jennie channeled cowgirl vibes, dressed in a leather Georges Hobeika jacket and matching custom mini shorts. Also evoking the Wild West was Julia Fox, dressed in heeled cowboy boots, a cropped leather jacket, and chaps with nothing underneath, leaving her rear fully exposed. She wasn’t the only one to brave tiny bottoms either, with Megan Thee Stallion, Ciara, Tyla and Victoria Monét each wearing micro-shorts during their performances.
The opening weekend’s true style pioneer, however, might have been Bernie Sanders. Never one to conform, the US senator stood out from the crowd in his trusty navy blazer and light blue button-up shirt — a look more frequently spotted in a boardroom than a rave (he did, however, have work to do: delivering a speech on stage before singer-songwriter Clairo’s set).
Scroll down for some of the most eye-catching looks from the festival so far.
