Charli XCX Walks a Runway to Hell in “SS26” Video
Featuring cameos from Abra, former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld, and a can of Poppi
Charli XCX is back with a new single. “SS26” arrives with a visual from “Von Dutch” director Torso, which places Charli in the glamorous chaos of a major fashion show. It opens with a guest appearance from former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld, who remarks from the front row, “Fashion won’t save us. But let’s go on the runway and walk.” The singer Abra also makes a cameo. Watch it below.
Charli first teased the new song in a Substack on Monday, posting what appeared to be either lyrics or a fashion-capsule manifesto. (“Think my politics could work as a press strategy,” she wrote, “And my heritage could give me quite the USP/Can’t hide the fact I’d rather take the easy road.”) Turns out it was the former. The rest of the track sees Charli riffing further on celebrity and world affairs via “a runway that goes straight to hell.” The video continues the theme, set during a high-fashion season that, in Charli’s words, seems to coincide with “when the world is gonna end.” She rocks a variety of looks on and off the runway, even recovering from a catwalk stumble straight out of Sex and the City—and that’s all before her dressing room explodes.
“SS26” follows “Rock Music,” Charli’s first standalone single since the Brat campaign, followed a few days later by a loosie called “I Keep On Thinking Bout You Every Single Day and Night” that was exclusive to vinyl and her B-sides Instagram page. Her companion album to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights came out in February.
