A look at the fashion at genre-specific music concerts and festivals, and a style guide to make heads turn at these events
Rapper Da Brat performs during a game in Atlanta in January 2024
If dressing for the occasion needs to be referenced, turn your attention to music concerts and festivals. At one recently concluded festival headlined by Sting, comfort and functionality didn’t take precedence over style; they went hand in hand. We saw rhinestone net tops, bohemian bralettes, flowy dresses, and oversized tees.
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Fashion stylist Tania Hergenhahn wears Chloe boots, Monsoon skirt, vintage top and Taylor Morrison sunglasses at All Points East Festival 2023 at Victoria Park, London. Pics/Getty Images
However, fashion was a slightly different story at the crowd-funded Control Alt Delete fest, where the five stages were more genre-focused. Audience fashion differed starkly at the metal, hip-hop, electronic and contemporary music zones. The varied styles got us thinking about music genre-specific fashion.
Am-B dressed for a hip-hop event
Inspired and horned
In the case of music with roots outside of India, most of its fashion followed what artistes wore in music videos and the trend set by previous generation fans. This was the case for Ambarin Kadri AKA Am-B, 36, Indian hip-hop and street dance pioneer who grew up watching 2003’s MTV and VH1. Hip-hop’s tilt towards oversized and baggy attire comes with defined silhouettes where what you wear influences the way you move. Kadri cultivated her style from this ideology.
“Hip-hop taught me how to express through fashion. It’s all in the styling and how you season your identity. You dress well, you feel good and you dance well,” says the artiste. With graphic tees, carpenter denims, work shirts and sneakers, Kadri will agree that the essence of the look is fresh and fly.
Venue for self-expression
For metalhead Varun Jha, 27, a marketing professional who grew up in Nagpur, there were limited avenues for live events to explore and cultivate one’s style apart from following suit with a black or band official t-shirt. Today, there’s more access to the music — events, venues to stream, and platforms to engage with artistes and fans. Jha notes, “Now, you can explore music not just through people who shared that music [previous generation fans] but by yourself, by taking the chance to own an identity based on how you associate with the music.” This has brought in a shift in style where Jha wears pink
T shirts and boxer shorts, with UV-reactive coloured hair to gigs; this co-exists with the usual theme of black, and stems from metal and rock’s non-conformist roots.
Conversation starter
Long-time metalhead Deepak Gopalakrishnan, 39, marketing freelancer and teacher, adds that you’ll see people showcasing band or festival merchandise that’s difficult to come by. “It says something about your variety and taste in music. I attended 2019’s Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium; wearing that tee at another concert later started some conversations.”
Sync with the music
Aleem Siddique
Fashion at music festivals is more than a conversation starter; for techno and house fan Aleem Siddique, 37, publicist, it’s an extension of one’s personality and the music, and a statement of style.
Saanya Khatwani, 32, founder of Yellow House Parra, Goa, who prefers house and electronic music, notes that at such festivals it’s all about movement, where people wear comfortable, groovy, fun and loose clothing. But that doesn’t give style a miss. “I would describe techno-music fans as people expressing themselves in a liberating way. There is a correlation between the music and styles; it’s a judgment-free space where you can explore an extension of your personal style,” Khatwani continues, “There’s no base trend, but in keeping with the weather, I see a lot of glitter, interesting silhouettes, prints, colours and jewellery.
Saanya Khatwani’s flowy look
In the last few years, I’ve seen Indian textiles [at boutique music festivals like Magnetic Fields] with the wave of Indian labels offering cool pieces in Indian textiles and fabric.”
Pop-core
Pop concerts dive into the intensity of fan-following that pop artistes are capable of creating. Think of Swifties (Taylor Swift fans) at concerts, or in India, for tribute concerts and music tour screenings. Teenager Shruthi Jairam decodes the style, “Attendees dress up to reference Taylor’s albums. Like characters James, Betty, Augustine in Folklore; or the album itself like gold tassel dresses and cowboy boots referencing Fearless; or DIY costumes that she has worn on stage like the Red’s 22 t-shirt, Midnight’s Vigilante shit bodysuit.
The right appeal
Giselle Pereira, 47, marketing consultant explains, “Pop artistes and concerts, apart from being entertaining, are marketing phenomena worth studying, focusing on brand loyalty and immersion, understanding consumer psychology, what appeals to a generation and how experiential marketing is what audiences crave for post the pandemic. Fans try hard to delve into the heart and soul of the music.”
Dress the fest
>> Techno: Athleisure wear or loose and flowy silhouettes, so that you can dance. Explore colour, prints and patterns.
Space Out
ON February 2
AT Kitty Su, Andheri East.
>> Hip-Hop: Oversized clothing, sneakers and stacked jewellery. Don’t mix brands with an outfit.
Casa Bacardi Mumbai
ON February 3
AT Radio Club Pier, Colaba.
>> Metal: Band t-shirt or black attire, with cargo pants and combat boots.
A Tribute to Metallica, Iron Maiden and Type O Negative
ON March 3
AT The Stables, Andheri East.
>> Blues and Jazz: Up the chic-quotient, opt for tailored jacket and trousers.
Mahindra Blues Festival
ON February 10 and 11
AT Mehboob Studios, Bandra West.
>> That Friday Jazz
ON February 23
AT G5A Warehouse, Mahalaxmi West.
With inputs from Divyak D’Souza, celebrity stylist
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