Addison Rae’s Iconic Rebrand
Picture this: it’s May of 2020, and famous TikTok star, Addison Rae, has just posted a video of herself dancing in a patchwork long sleeve swimsuit top and leggings, and you just thought to yourself: “Literally what is she wearing?”
Now, four years later, the dancer has surpassed her former fame, reemerging in 2024 as a hyper-pop star with a huge cult following and a Billboard Hot 100 single. However, this change did not happen overnight. Instead, Rae has been slowly rebranding herself over the past four years. The shift arguably began early in her career, when the internet viral star formed a deep friendship with reality TV star, Kourtney Kardashian — a relationship which brought her into the celebrity spotlight. Just one year later, she released her first single, Obsessed, and began appearing and acting in various films and productions. Throughout this time, she maintained paparazzi appearances, which, at the time, received a significant amount of negative publicity specifically directed to her sometimes questionable clothing choices.
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In fact, prior to 2024, it seemed like she had tried everything. She debuted on social media, released a criticized song, acted, created her own makeup brand, Item Beauty, and even released a personalized fragrance line. Throughout that time, you might not have heard much about her in mainstream media or pop culture.
However, in 2023, the star released her next track, 2 Die 4, featuring pop icon and friend, Charli XCX. Not only did fans love the song, but they loved the friendship between Addison Rae and Charli XCX. Despite the track’s success on TikTok, Rae’s audience was still mostly limited to her own fanbase. That is, until her feature on Charli XCX’s famous BRAT album, where she improvised a now iconic scream on The von dutch remix. With the onset of “BRAT” summer, Addison Rae’s career completely took off.
She seemed to find her personal style, even holding posed paparazzi shoots in iconic looks, and the internet went crazy over her.
The true culmination of this impressive rebrand came on August 9, 2024, with the release of her most famous song, Diet Pepsi. This song, combined with the BRAT album, marks the resurgence of hyper-pop music to a level which we haven’t seen in almost a decade. The public response to this iconic song was overwhelmingly positive, which is a stark shift from her former TikTok fame, where, despite an immense following, she was often laughed at or deemed cringe worthy. Addison Rae has completely leaned into her hyper-pop genre and is often associated with Lana Del Ray’s vintage “2010 tumblr” vibe, an aesthetic that allows her to essentially wear whatever she wants and make it look intentional yet effortless. She frequently steps out wearing cheeky graphics, micro shorts, huge stilettos, and fur.
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With her amassed followers, it is unsurprising that her next single, Aquamarine, released in October of 2024, was another hit. Fans are obsessed with the track, as well as the music video, which features fresh and on-theme choreography and costume. Since then, she has been seen wearing blue, pearls, shells, and other ocean related accessories.
Rae’s unique vibe allows her to use her style to promote her music, without it feeling like intentional promotional content. Instead, I think it would be entirely plausible to see her sporting these looks regardless, which is a far cry from the TikTok dancer regularly mocked for her somewhat odd choice in clothing.
Truly, Addison Rae’s evolution is something for marketing agents to study. As a loyal Addison fan beginning in early 2020, I am inclined to say that if you did not like her when she was making TikToks in the streets of Los Angeles, then you don’t deserve her now that she has released Diet Pepsi. However, with her emergence as what I would deem a pop icon, I can’t blame you for joining the bandwagon. Rae says it best in her first song, with the lyric: “You said you’re obsessed with me, so I took a second, and I said ‘me too.’”
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